Undertale: Reason to Live
by InGodzHandz
Summary: In this AU, Frisk is suicidally depressed, and it's up to Sans and Papyrus to restore his will to live. Just a heads up. Frisk does try to take his own life. Things get dark, so I'm warning you in advance. Also, spiritual themes!
1. Chapter 1

Undertale: Reason to Live

"So, you're really going through with this? Aren't you?" Flowey asked.

There, Frisk was, lying in the snow in the middle of the Snowdin woods, where he thought no one would find him, yet somehow, he did.

"I have to say I was hoping for a better ending than this," Flowey said in his cold and mocking tone. "I mean seeing you try to play this game without killing anyone only to fail. Every. Single. Time. That was entertaining. Watching you try so hard to stay the pacifist only to snap. Every. Single. Time. That was hilarious. Then, watching as slowly your hope vanished until your determination withered away from your wasted efforts. That was unbelievably satisfying. But seeing you like this, with no hope left, resigning yourself to freeze to death in the woods, completely alone. It doesn't feel like the ending you deserve."

Frisk had no energy left to cry or even to react. He had shed all his tears. He had lost all his feelings. He no longer cared what happened. He stared emotionlessly through Flowey as if he wasn't even there though he heard every word. Frisk was waiting to die.

"Oh, well," Flowey said shaking his head. "I'm not complaining. After all, once you're gone, I get a soul. You know, I could make this go faster if you wanted me to. I could kill you and take your soul myself, like I almost did before…"

Flowey showed his more menacing face. He pulled Frisk's soul out of his body and prepared to destroy him with his seeds. When Frisk didn't react, Flowey relaxed his features back to normal, let his soul go, and made his weapons disappear.

"No, it just doesn't feel the same," Flowey said. "It just doesn't feel the same now that you've given up hope. It's no fun now that there's no terror behind your eyes or determination to fight against. Besides, that would only be giving you what you want. Wouldn't it? I'll let you die your own way in your own pain, human. Then once your corpse is frozen, I'll take your soul and carry out my own plans. Together, we'll give this world the hell it deserves. It will be so much fun. I hope you're looking forward to it as much as I am."

Frisk's only response was to roll over on his other side so that he was facing away from Flowey.

"Alright then," Flowey gloated. "I suppose I can let you have your final minutes of peace. Enjoy them while you can. I'll be waiting."

Flowey disappeared finally leaving Frisk alone with his thoughts. Once he disappeared, he let what few tears he had left flow freely. Even his last-ditch attempt to make everything right had failed. When Frisk froze to death, he wouldn't be allowed to move on to the afterlife in peace. Flowey would take his soul and bring about his hell on earth. Whether he lived or died, Frisk would still cause misery. It was unfair.

Frisk couldn't even run somewhere else. He was too weak now to even move. All he could do was wait. His body was cold, and he was so tired. His eyes were so heavy now. His eyelids shut, and he began to lose consciousness. It was so peaceful and quiet. Why couldn't he stay this way?

Frisk fell asleep and began to dream. In his dreams, it was dark, and he was alone, but instead of the cold, he felt warm. A mist surrounded him and held him in an embrace. He couldn't explain it, but he knew he was loved and he was safe in its presence. Frisk finally felt happy and at peace. He could have stayed there forever.

"You don't really want to die, do you?" the mist asked in a sad but kind and concerned voice.

Frisk shed a few tears and nodded. He suddenly felt himself being lifted into the air.

"You don't want to leave," the mist said still kind but overwhelming in his love and power. "You only want to be free from pain and stop hurting others, but this isn't the way."

The mist transfigured into a light that grew brighter and brighter until it dominated Frisk's field of vision.

"My mercy is yours if only you'll take it," the light said. "Won't you take it?"

The light reached out his hand towards Frisk and he hesitated before falling back into the darkness of his sleep.

When Frisk gained consciousness again, he was aware that he was being held in a bathtub filled with hot water and wearing swim trunks.

"Oh, human! You're finally awake! Nyeh heh heh!" a familiar voice yelled while sitting him up. "I knew you weren't dead!"

Frisk turned around to see Papyrus.

"Don't look so surprised, human!" Papyrus said proudly. "It would have been dishonorable of me to leave you to die without engaging you in a proper battle first, so after you ran away from me, I ran into the woods to find you and healed your wounds. You're lucky I caught you when I did, or you would have frozen to death. Nyeh heh heh!"

Papyrus lifted Frisk out of the tub, placed him on the floor, and wrapped his shivering body in a few towels. Papyrus then stood up and opened the door to leave revealing that they were in his room.

"Now, stay here, human," Papyrus said. "I'll see if your clothes are ready and then we can engage in battle! Just stay quiet. My brother Sans doesn't know you're…"

"Hiya, Papyrus," Sans said appearing suddenly in his room.

Papyrus pushed the human back in the bathroom and shut the door.

"Hi, Sans," he said.

"Was that the human in your bathroom?"

"What? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Papyrus, I saw him standing there."

"No, you didn't."

"He was in a towel."

"No, he wasn't."

"Oh, my God! Was he naked?"

"No, he was wearing one of my bathing suits."

"So, the human is in there."

Papyrus stomped the ground and said, "Sans, you tricked me!"

"So, why is the human in our house?" Sans asked inquisitively.

"He would have died if I hadn't."

In the meantime, Frisk backed away as far away from the door he could in fear. He remembered what happened when he snapped and killed Papyrus. He remembered Sans' brokenness and his fierce anger. Frisk had to get out and end everything in a way that not even Flowey could reach. He looked around for an exit and saw a window.

"So, let me get this straight," Sans said after hearing his brother's explanation. "The human was freezing to death, so instead of taking him to Undyne, you brought him here, gave him a bath, and are now washing his clothes."

"Yes," Papyrus replied. "I couldn't just leave him to die, Sans. Besides, his clothes were wet and dirty."

"I know. I'm just surprised is all. Let me see him."

"No, get out of my room!"

Sans shortcut past him and into the bathroom. Frisk was gone, and the window was wide open.

"Dammit, Sans! I hate it when you do that," Papyrus complained while opening the door. "Where's the human?"

"I think he ran away," Sans said gesturing towards the open window.

"You scared him away, Sans," Papyrus yelled in a panic while looking out the window. "Where'd you go, human?! We won't hurt you! We promise! Now, he's gonna freeze to death again! I have to go find him!"

Papyrus bolted past Sans, ran down the stairs, and out the door as quickly as he could. Sans short cut to the ground to see if he could follow the human's tracks. He found them, and they were going straight for the river.

Frisk ran as fast as he could with his bare feet in the snow and still wrapped in his towels. He finally knew a place where Flowey would not be able to reach him, the river. If he died there, Flowey would not be able to retrieve his soul. He would be able to stay in peace, as he was in his dream with the entity who loved him.

Frisk stopped only when he was at the river's edge. He hesitated at its bank. The voice was right. He didn't want to die, but what else could he do? Every time he failed, he only brought pain to the people he wanted to help the most. Frisk couldn't do that again, not to Papyrus, not to Sans, not to any of them. The best thing he could do was get himself out of their lives. That is what he told himself as he stuck the toes of one foot into the water and prepared to take the plunge.

"It's a bit cold for a swim, ain't it, human?" Sans asked interrupting his thoughts.

Frisk turned around and shook at seeing him again. Somehow, Sans knew what he was thinking.

"It's alright, human," Sans said. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just stay calm. My brother and me, we look scary, but we're harmless, especially Papyrus. What's your name?"

Frisk looked away in shame. Something in his look gave Sans déjà-vu.

"What is your name, kid?" Sans asked again.

"Frisk," Frisk answered quietly.

"Okay, Frisk," Sans said calmly. "You're going to be okay. Come inside. I'll find you some warm clothes until my brother gets yours back."

"Sans," Frisk said. "I don't want to have a bad time. I don't want anyone to have a bad time."

Sans froze for a minute. Those words sounded familiar, but he didn't know how or where…

"I think it's better for everyone if I just give up, like you wanted me to," Frisk said before dropping the towels on the shore and letting himself fall into the water. "I'm sorry."

The cold water was quick and overpowering, much more so than the snow. He looked up and saw the reflection on the surface of Sans looking down at him while the air escaped from his lungs and the current washed him downstream. As before, it was peaceful and quiet. It was nice. Frisk closed his eyes and waited to drown.

His soul came out of his body. Frisk opened his eyes and smiled thinking that mean the end was here, but he felt dismay when his soul flew upwards eventually pulling him out of the water.

Frisk coughed hard while regaining the ability to breath. Meanwhile, he was pulled back to shore where Sans was. Papyrus stood next to him looking sad and confused.

"No," Frisk yelled tiredly feeling weak again after his second exposure to hypothermia that day. "No! No! No! No! Put me down! Let me go! Please! I just wanna die! That's the only way! Please!"

He started to cry again as Sans put him down. Sans looked at him with pity and compassion. Frisk tried to make a break for it again, but Sans grabbed his arm and refused to let him go. Frisk was exhausted, but he didn't give it up. He could barely stand, but he thrashed around with all the strength he had left.

"Stop it, Frisk," Sans said firmly. "Stop it right now!"

"No, please! You don't understand! If I die anywhere else…" Frisk rambled quickly losing the energy he had left.

"You're not dying, Frisk," Sans said resolutely and authoritatively to him looking him in the eyes as he would his own brother. "No one is going to kill you, and no one is going to hurt you. You're sick and you need to come inside now."

"But I am a monster."

"So, is everyone else, kid. You need to calm down now. We'll take care of you. Okay? Papyrus? Carry him in please? I don't think he can walk two feet."

"Of course," Papyrus said scooping him in his arms.

Sans handed him the towels, so he could keep Frisk warm. Frisk began to calm down as they walked back to the house as quickly as they could. His breathing got more even, and he began to doze off.

"Sans, what's wrong with him?" Papyrus asked. "Why is he acting so crazy? Is this normal for humans?"

"No," Sans said. "He's manically depressed. We have to look after him now."


	2. Chapter 2

Frisk opened his eyes drowsily and looked around. He was being held by Papyrus again in his bathtub of lukewarm water this time.

"Look who's awake," Sans said rubbing his wet hair. "We're glad you pulled through, Frisk. Go back to sleep. You have nothing to worry about now."

He shut his eyes again as he listened to the voices of Sans and Papyrus.

"Sans, why can't I just heal him?" asked Papyrus loudly.

"I told you, bro," Sans said quietly so that Frisk couldn't hear. "If he heals too quickly, he might run away again. Frisk needs to heal the old-fashioned way. Hopefully, this way his mind will heal along with his body."

"Is that why he's in lukewarm water?"

"No, he's in lukewarm water because hot water will put him in shock."

"It didn't before."

"That's because you healed him."

"Why can't I just do that again?"

Sans sighed and said quietly, "We've been over this. If Frisk is going to get better, we need to do things this way. Minds don't heal like bodies do. You know that."

Papyrus looked at him knowingly and asked, "How long will we keep him here?"

"As long as it takes. You still up to watching him tonight?"

"Yes."

"You're sure you can handle this, Papyrus? You will have to watch him and make sure he doesn't try to end his life again."

"You worry too much, Sans. I, the Great Papyrus, will protect the suicidal human and cheer him up! It will be a piece of cake. Nyeh heh heh! I will be the number one babysitter!"

"Alright then, I'm heading out. Don't let him out of your sight."

"Got it! Sheesh!"

Sans shortcut out leaving Papyrus alone with the human. Frisk opened his eyes and wearily looked back at Papyrus.

"Alright, human!" Papyrus said draining the tub, picking Frisk up, wrapping him in several towels and carrying him to his bed. "You're all clean, and now, it's time to sleep. I hope you like my bed. It's a race car! I like to dream I'm driving a car along the highways on the surface since I can't do it in real life. I hope you dream of something good that makes you happy, too. Then maybe, you will stop wanting to die. Oh, I almost forgot."

Papyrus lowered Frisk onto the bed and pulled the covers over his body before running to Sans' room and coming back with a t-shirt, underwear, and a pair of shorts.

"Put these on," Papyrus said handing the clothes to him. "You're kinda naked right now."

Frisk pulled the covers over himself more completely in embarrassment.

"Oh, no," Papyrus said. "Don't worry. We're all guys here. I don't mind, but Sans says other creatures get embarrassed so…"

Frisk snatched the clothes and quickly put them on under the covers. The clothes were loose but comfortable.

Papyrus then sat Frisk up, lifted his shirt, wrapped a heating pad around his torso, and turned it on. Frisk immediately felt a warm sensation around his skin.

"There, you go, human," Papyrus said while tucking Frisk back in again. "Sans said this heating pad will help raise your internal body temperature and make you feel all nice and cozy."

Papyrus turned off the lights and said. "Alrighty, human! Excuse me. Alrighty, Frisk! Now, we go to sleep! Since you're in my bed, I shall sleep on the floor."

Papyrus instantly dropped on his back on the floor next to the bed. Frisk sat up and looked over at him from the bed.

"Goodnight, Frisk!" Papyrus said. "Tomorrow, we get to work restoring your will to live! Don't worry! By the time I'm done, you will love life more than anyone else in the underground! Nyeh heh heh! Goodnight, human!"

Frisk laid back in the bed and stared at the ceiling. Things had not gone the way he expected. He did not expect these two to want to save him so badly. It honestly didn't make sense.

Their king Asgore supposedly killed humans. Frisk had never gone far enough to see him. He had always reset the timeline whenever he killed someone before he could get that far, but he knew he killed humans. Frisk figured that because of that they wouldn't care about losing a human, even if they were friendly. Another human was another problem and the other monsters of the Underground surely wouldn't care if another one disappeared.

But these brothers, they were doing so much for him. Frisk couldn't understand it. He was a danger to everyone. Why were they being so kind to someone who didn't deserve it? They stopped his soul from being taken by Flowey, but he still had nothing to look forward to. Frisk still didn't see any other solution for himself but to get out of their lives permanently.

Frisk felt the warmth of his body heat from the blankets and his heating pad. It warmed him up and relaxed him. He was too weak and tired from the cold to move or act. All he could do was fall asleep, so he shut his eyes and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Sans stood in the forest outside the door that led to the ruins. The door opened and a figure in a purple cloak emerged.

"Hello, Toriel," Sans said with a smile.

"Hello, my friend," Toriel said. "I wish we were meeting under better circumstances."

"Me, too."

"Is he safe?"

"Yes, he's resting now. Papyrus is looking after him."

"Poor child. He is so lost."

"I want to help him. Tell me everything that happened when he was with you."

"Let's go inside."

Toriel entered the ruins with Sans following behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

Frisk was in the warm place in his dreams where he was before. More importantly HE was there surrounding him with his warmth and love.

"You know who I am," he said. "Don't you, Frisk?"

Frisk nodded and said, "I don't understand why you're showing mercy to me or why you want to save me. Do you know what I've done?"

"Of course. I see all no matter how many times you've reset the timeline."

"You are the highest Law. You know what I deserve. So, why won't you go ahead and banish me to hell already?!"

"I offer the same forgiveness to all no matter what a person has done. It's not what a person deserves. It's a gift only I can give."

The light came back again, and he offered his hand to Frisk.

"My mercy is yours if only you'll take it. Will you take it?" he asked.

Frisk once again hesitated, and the light filled his vision.

Frisk opened his eyes and saw light coming through the window. It was morning. He sat up and looked over the side of the bed, but Papyrus was nowhere to be found.

Frisk turned off the heating pad that was around his torso, pulled it off, jumped out of bed, and went into the bathroom. After doing his business and washing his hands and his face, he turned and saw the window he had jumped from the day before. He was alone now. It was way too tempting.

Frisk opened the window letting in the cold morning air and looked out. The snow was still on the ground, so the river was still good and cold. If no one was around, he could do it. He could put himself out of their misery with no one to notice or to care.

Nevertheless, Frisk hesitated. He remembered the one who had spoken to him in the night, the voice who loved him and wanted him to accept his mercy, and he froze in place with his hands on the ice-covered window sill.

It didn't make sense. Why did he want him to live so badly? What was there to live for? Surely, all Frisk had done was cause misery. Wouldn't killing himself make up for all that and make it all better? Was his life worth that much? Frisk didn't know. Frisk didn't feel like making the effort to know. He only wanted it all to stop, or at least, that's what he thought he wanted. He wasn't sure of that either.

"Frisk?! What are you doing?"

Frisk turned around and saw Papyrus standing in the doorway.

"Don't you know how cold it is outside?" Papyrus asked as he walked in and shut and locked the window again. "You could get hypothermia again, and then, we'd never be able to nurse you back to mental health."

Frisk looked out the window in dismay before he felt his hand being grabbed by Papyrus.

"Come on, Frisk," Papyrus said pulling Frisk behind him as he walked through his bedroom. "We have to go to town. You need a toothbrush and a certain older brother who shall not be named has not yet come back from the store to give you one…Oh, yeah."

Papyrus paused on the landing and said, "I guess I should give you a tour. Where you've been sleeping is my room and that room over there is where my lazy-as-hell brother sleeps. In between these rooms is the laundry room/bathroom. It's both since we didn't have much room to put them anywhere else."

Papyrus lifted Frisk and held him over the railing catching him off guard immediately.

"Down there is the den where we watch TV," Papyrus said before doing a somersault in the air over the railing and landing on his feet on the floor in front of the TV.

"Over there is the kitchen and under the stairs is the bathroom," Papyrus said nonchalantly while Frisk was still shaking in place. "And that's our house. Are you still cold? Hold on. Wait here while I look for your shoes and one of Sans' coats."

Papyrus put Frisk on the ground and run upstairs to the laundry room. Frisk took the time to look around. The place was nice. He had never actually hung out there before even though Papyrus had offered before. It was cozy, and the carpet felt soft under his feet. He wandered over to the kitchen and saw two pots cooking on the stove. Unfortunately, Frisk was too short to see what was cooking inside the pots, but he could smell it and it didn't smell pleasant.

It suddenly occurred to Frisk that he was out of Papyrus' sight for the moment. If he wanted to act, it was now his chance.

Frisk turned around and walked as quickly and as quietly as he could until he reached the door. Then he turned the handle and opened the door. Frisk took a deep breath and prepared to do what he had failed to do yesterday. It was for the best.

Frisk stepped outside and felt himself being pulled backwards by the collar of his shirt.

"No, Frisk! Bad boy!" Papyrus said pulling him closer to the couch while pushing the door shut. "You can't go out there by yourself without me or Sans, especially not without a coat or shoes. You could freeze again. Besides, Sans said you must be constantly supervised until you are no longer suicidally depressed. Now, come on. Put on your stuff. We have to get back before your food gets burnt."

Frisk didn't want to fight him, so he had no choice but to do what he said. Frisk sat on the couch and pulled on his socks and shoes and Sans' black coat.

"Alright, Frisk! Let's go!" Papyrus said suddenly lifting Frisk, sitting him on his shoulders, and walking to the door. "Don't bump your head on the doorframe."

"I can walk," Frisk said immediately feeling slightly taken aback from hearing his own voice for the first time that day. It sounded sad and pitiful.

"I know you can, human," Papyrus said stepping outside and slamming the door shut behind him. "But you're short and will walk too slow, and we're in a hurry. Let's go!"

Papyrus started sprinting through the snow as fast as he could. It was all Frisk could do to keep himself from falling backwards. He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Papyrus' head while Papyrus held onto his legs.

The cold wind rushed through Frisk's hair and his clothes and made him feel both cold and nauseous at the same time. Everything on either side of him looked like a blur.

"Papyrus," Frisk said barely audible above the sound of the rushing air. "Can we slow down?"

"No can do, Frisk," Papyrus said. "We're almost there. Weee!"

Frisk's stomach dropped while Papyrus jumped over several logs that were lying in the middle of the road doing a perfect vertical split in the air and landing on his feet on the other side. He kept running without skipping a beat.

"God, this skeleton's gonna kill me," Frisk whispered to himself.

Papyrus suddenly stopped in front of what looked like a grocery store.

"Here, we are, human," Papyrus said finally putting Frisk down on his feet. "This is Snowdin's best and only grocery store! Nyeh heh heh! Come on!"

Papyrus grabbed Frisk's hand and pulled him into the store behind him. Frisk staggered along as best he could still feeling dizzy from Papyrus' run.

Meanwhile, Sans walked in to the kitchen of Toriel's home. Toriel was sitting at the table sipping tea.

"Thanks for letting me crash in the guest room," Sans said. "I don't know what came over me last night. I was so tired."

"Are you heading back now?" Toriel asked.

"Well, I would but I kinda forgot most of what we talked about since I was so tired," Sans said sitting in the chair across from her. "Would you mind running it by me again? Especially the part about the flower."

Toriel chuckled and smiled to herself, but her demeanor immediately changed as she remembered.

"It's as I told you last night," she said. "I found the child the other day on my daily search for humans. He was being tormented by that flower. I have never seen any monster like that flower anywhere in the Underground, and I hope I never see him again. He was so cruel. I couldn't take it…"

"Wait, what did he look like?" Sans asked. "What all did he do?"

"The flower looked like one of the yellow flowers that grow down here except he had a face. When I found Frisk, the flower was laughing at him. I'm sure I didn't catch everything, but he kept mocking Frisk for how he had failed again and again. He told him the more he tried to be a good person down here the more he failed and since he messed up every time…"

Toriel shed a few tears before saying, "he should just make everything better by ending his life. After that, he tried to kill Frisk, but I stepped in and drove him away. When I took Frisk with me, I led him as far as I could before I had to leave to do some shopping, but I could tell by looking at him something was off. He looked at me like I was a ghost, like he knew me, like he was terrified…"

"That's how Frisk looked at me, too," Sans said. "But he still met up with you at your house?"

"Yes, he did. He took a nap while I baked him some pie and we talked a little bit afterwards, but I couldn't get him to tell me what was bothering him. Later when he ran into the basement to escape, I tried fighting him, but he broke down. He wouldn't stop crying and saying over and over that 'he was right' and that 'he had to end everything' or something horrible would happen. That's when he started getting delusional. Frisk kept rambling on and on about horrible things he had supposedly done to people he shouldn't have known about. I took him back to his room and stayed with him until he fell asleep, but when I woke up the next morning, he was gone. All that he left was a note. He said he thanked me because I was being kinder to him than he deserved, that he would be good, and that he would not be facing Asgore, because he would be dead long before that happened…"

Toriel started crying.

Sans sat there thinking to himself and said, "You did everything you could for him, Toriel. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"It doesn't make any sense," Toriel said. "Why would such a young child hate himself and think he deserves to die? No one in the Ruins has been murdered…"

"No one in Snowdin has been either."

"It's that awful flower. I just know it. He's been tormenting Frisk and driving him crazy. Frisk must have been here alone with him longer than I know. Poor child."

"He's been talking to Papyrus, too."

"Make sure he stays away from him. That flower is more of a monster than either of us are."

"Definitely," Sans said getting up from his chair. "Thanks for everything, Toriel. I better get back to Frisk before Papyrus drives him to the nuthouse. Don't worry. I'll make sure he gets better and keep you updated on his progress."

Toriel hesitated for a second before she decided to say something.

"Sans, I know you know something else," Toriel said. "You can tell me."

Sans stopped in his tracks and looked back at her.

"That flower talked to him like he knew him and like Frisk had been here before," Toriel said. "And when I was with Frisk, I felt like I was repeating myself, especially when we were fighting. He also mentioned enemies he shouldn't even know about. I know there are wizards on the surface. I think Frisk is one of them and he can turn back time, but for some reason only the flower can remember what happened before. I know you do research, Sans. I used to be married to the king after all. Please tell me. How close am I?"

"That's classified…" Sans started to say.

Toriel held Sans' soul and surrounded it with her fire magic, so he couldn't move.

"We are separated, but I am still the queen," Toriel said more forcefully. "You will tell me what I want to know."

"Easy, Toriel!" Sans said as calmly as he could. "You're right. I'll tell you whatever you want."


	4. Chapter 4

They were finally inside the grocery store. Frisk had only just started to get over his dizziness when Papyrus picked him up and put him inside the shopping cart, thankfully not in the child seat but in the main part where all the groceries went. Nonetheless, Frisk was annoyed.

"Papyrus, I can walk," Frisk complained.

"Yeah, slowly," Papyrus said pushing the cart into the store. "I told you already, Frisk. We need to get back quickly, and we can't do that if you're walking on your short legs. Besides, this is much more fun!"

Papyrus put one leg on the cart and used the other one to accelerate. Then he put both legs up while he and Frisk rolled quickly through the aisles just avoiding the other customers who were leaping to get out of the way.

"WEEEEE!" Papyrus yelled.

"Papyrus, we can't do this in here!" Frisk yelled while Papyrus used his feet to change their direction. "We'll hit someone! We have to stop!"

"You worry too much, human! I, the Great Papyrus, know exactly what I'm doing! Weeee!"

Frisk held onto the sides of the grocery cart as well as he could and tried to avoid throwing up until Papyrus finally came to a complete stop. He looked around and saw that they were in the bakery section.

"This is my favorite part of the whole store," Papyrus said. "Their donuts are the best. Here, try one for yourself."

Papyrus picked up a donut with chocolate frosting from a display case and handed it to Frisk.

"Hold on," Papyrus said after getting one for himself. "We need juice."

Papyrus quickly found and picked up two large jugs of orange juice or their closest Underground equivalent. He opened one jug and sat it down in front of Frisk. Then Papyrus threw his donut in his mouth and immediately washed it down with as much orange juice as he could chug.

Frisk sat there with his donut in his hand and the opened jug in front of him staring on in amazement along with half the store as Papyrus chugged down an entire giant jug of orange juice.

Papyrus noticed Frisk was staring and asked, "What's the matter, Frisk? Oh, I know what you want."

He trotted over to the café right next to the bakery and came back over to the cart.

"Here, you go, Frisk," Papyrus said oblivious to all the disgusted stares as he threw a bunch of napkins onto Frisk's lap and handed him a bendy straw.

Papyrus finished the last of his orange juice and dropped the empty container in the basket.

"Come on, Frisk," Papyrus said pleadingly. "I know you're depressed, but you have to eat something. The juice will give you tons of healthy vitamins and stuff. The donut isn't that healthy, but it's so delicious that it's sure to make you happy."

Frisk obediently took a bite out of the donut and smiled. It was delicious. The juice wasn't bad either.

Papyrus continued pushing the cart around the store, but only a third as wildly as before since there was an open container in his cart. Frisk took notice, and after finishing the donut, drank the juice as slowly as he could. Papyrus moved around as quickly as possible only stopping to pick things up he needed when they were in the appropriate aisles.

When they finally reached the personal hygiene aisles, Papyrus picked Frisk up out of the cart and put him on the ground.

"Alright, Frisk," Papyrus said. "I don't know what type of toothbrushes humans like or anything about how you keep yourself clean, so you can pick all that out yourself. I'm gonna look for some skull polish."

Before Papyrus walked away, Frisk asked, "Papyrus, am I your prisoner?"

Papyrus turned back around and was awkwardly silent for a moment.

Then he finally said, "Well…um…think of it more like being a patient in a mental health ward but much more fun…"

"How long am I staying with you?"

"Sans said we would keep you with us until you were better…in the head. I'm going to look for that skull polish now. Hurry up and get what you need. Don't worry about the price. I'll take care of it. Also, no wandering off."

Papyrus turned away to look for his polish. Frisk sighed and went to work looking for whatever the Underground's equivalent of the surface's personal hygiene products were. He was their "patient" now, and he would have to deal with it.

Frisk gathered all that he thought would take care of his needs. The only thing he needed was the toothbrush they came for in the first place, so he walked over to the wall of toothbrushes. Just like on the surface, they were all either different colors or had pictures on them, except in the Underground's case, they all had pictures of Mettaton. He picked one off the wall and looked it over.

At that moment, Frisk felt his soul get pulled out of his body. He turned around to see Undyne looming over him and staring him down. She wasn't wearing her armor, but she was more than ready to fight. She pulled a spear out of nowhere and continued glaring.

"I never would have expected to find you here, human," Undyne said. "But it doesn't matter, I'll take you down once and for all."

Before Frisk could react, Papyrus jumped in the way.

"Undyne," Papyrus said. "The human is in no condition to fight."

"Why are you defending him, Papyrus?" Undyne asked angrily. "You know what humans did to us. I can't believe it. He's brainwashed you! I'll kill the little brat."

"No, Undyne, please! He has no will to live! He's way too sick to fight!"

"Bull! Get out of my way, Papyrus! I don't want to have to hurt you!"

"No!"

"Move it, traitor!"

"This isn't right, Undyne!"

"Papyrus…"

"STOP!" Frisk yelled at the top of his lungs getting on his knees in front of Undyne. "Undyne, you're right. I'm dangerous. I can't be allowed to live. Papyrus was just trying to protect me, but I don't deserve it. Kill me. Go ahead. I won't fight back. I swear. I just want it to end. Please, just do it. Take my soul to Asgore. Break the barrier. Do whatever you want. Just make sure no one else gets it, especially not Flowey. Please kill me. Go ahead. It's okay. I want you to do it. Please. I'm ready. Go ahead…"

"What the hell?" Undyne asked lowering her spear. "What is the matter with you, human?"

"It's like I was saying," Papyrus said. "Sans said he's manically depressed. Yesterday, he tried to drown himself in a river."

"Oh, my God," Undyne said looking over the human in pity.

"Sans and I are nursing him back to mental health."

"Papyrus, he's a human. We still have to fight."

"But not like this, that would be dishonorable…"

"Wait, dishonorable?"

"Yes, it's dishonorable to kill an enemy who has no will to fight back. It would be the same as assisted suicide. The more honorable thing to do is wait to fight until he has recovered. Then, he'll give you a real challenge. That would be the honorable thing to do, and I know you're honorable, Undyne."

Undyne stood there looking thoughtful for a second, then she dissolved her spear.

"I don't want a dishonorable battle, human," Undyne said. "I'll let you go for now."

"Thank you, Undyne," Papyrus said. "You won't regret this."

"He's in your custody until he gets better, Papyrus," Undyne said turning around and walking away. "See you later."

"Bye, Undyne!" Papyrus yelled after her. "I'll call you."

Frisk looked down at the floor and started crying again.

"It's alright, Frisk," Papyrus said kneeling down next to Frisk. "You're going to be just…"

"WHY DID YOU STOP HER?!" Frisk yelled in frustration with tears streaming down his face. "I was almost free! I would have been free if you hadn't stopped her! Why do you keep stopping me every time I get close?!"

Undyne peaked around the aisle at the two of them. Papyrus, not knowing what else to do, picked Frisk up.

"Frisk, why are you so sad?" Papyrus asked rubbing his back. "You can't really hate yourself and your life that much. Can you? Everyone's life matters and everyone has a reason to be happy."

"Not me," Frisk said sadly. "I haven't had a reason in a long time."

"Uh, let's go home," Papyrus said lowering him into the cart with his toothbrush.

Undyne watched Papyrus and Frisk walk away and stared at the ground lost in thought.


	5. Chapter 5

One fear-inducing sprint later, Papyrus and Frisk were back at the house.

Frisk had hoped that having his arms filled with groceries would make Papyrus run slower. It didn't. If anything, it was scarier since Frisk was the one who had to keep his arms and legs wrapped around Papyrus' body without any support. He was still shaking when the skeleton stopped and unlocked the door.

"Here, we are, human," Papyrus said walking through the door and kicking it shut behind him. "Home sweet home."

Papyrus walked into the kitchen and put the groceries on the table while Frisk continued to keep up his grip.

"Frisk, you can let go now," Papyrus said. "We're home."

Frisk slowly slid down Papyrus' body while the latter tried to remember what they had to get home so quickly for. Frisk then walked into the other room and laid down on the carpet while trying to catch his breath.

"Oh, no," Papyrus said running to the stove. "Your food…is fine. The water didn't burn. Thank God! Now, I can put spaghetti in it."

Papyrus picked up a handful of spaghetti noodles and dumped them in the boiling water while Frisk continued hyperventilating on the ground. Laying in the carpet was nice. It made him remember laying on the ground with Napstablook.

"Okay, Frisk," Papyrus said walking over to where Frisk was. "Now, we only have one more errand to run. Come on. Get up!"

Papyrus reached out his hand towards him, and reluctantly, Frisk gave him his hand and allowed him to pull him up. Then, with his hand still firmly gripping Frisk's, Papyrus walked out the front door with Frisk in tow.

Much to his relief, Frisk was allowed to walk this time. He stretched his legs and looked around while recovering from his dizziness. Papyrus walked quickly until they reached their destination, the library.

"Here, we are, Frisk," Papyrus said opening the door and pulling him in behind him. "Welcome to the town library!"

After they entered the front door, Papyrus let go of Frisk's hand.

"I have to go look for a book, human," Papyrus said. "You can look for one too if you want. I have a library card. I'll let you know when I'm done. Don't wander off or I will find you. Nyeh heh heh!"

Papyrus turned away to search for his book on one of the library's few bookshelves in the back.

Frisk looked back at the door. He could run, but Papyrus was too quick. He would catch him before he got too far. Even if he didn't, Flowey could. It was pointless.

Frisk turned back around and walked to the bookshelves. His life now was to be carted around by a relentlessly upbeat skeleton, so he might as well try to find something to make it more bearable.

Frisk walked to the books and looked for a title that peaked his interest. He had a flashback to his life on the surface and the libraries he saw there. He liked the libraries. He always did. They were always peaceful and comforting places to him. It felt forever ago now, but it still made him smile for a second.

Frisk finally found a book, picked it off the shelf, and sat in a chair at one of the few tables. The monsters there flashed friendly smiles before continuing what sounded like a newspaper staff meeting. Frisk flipped opened the book and started reading something interesting. He read a part about death rituals for monsters, more specifically something about sprinkling their remains on whatever they loved in life…

"Frisk, I found my book," Papyrus said making Frisk look up from his reading. "Oh, I see you found one, too. Good work. Well, come on. Let's go!"

Frisk quickly climbed out of his chair and followed Papyrus to the front desk. Papyrus turned around snatched the book from Frisk's hands and passed it to the librarian.

Once the books were checked out, Papyrus tossed Frisk his book, picked up is book, and started reading it and walking back to the house at the same time. He walked forward and managed to not run into anything or break his concentration. Frisk walked in front of him out of curiosity, and Papyrus only walked around him. It was impressive.

Frisk let Papyrus walk ahead of him and lingered behind him. It had been a while since Frisk had really looked around at the place. It was nicer than he remembered. The houses and citizens were all warm and pleasant. He could smell cinnamon in the air. It used to be enough to fill his soul with determination.

Frisk paused when he saw the path go off towards the river. He felt a certain pair of eyes bore holes into his back as he took a few steps in that direction.

"Frisk!" Papyrus yelled to get his attention.

Frisk turned around, and Papyrus said, without looking up from his book, "Would you unlock the door for us, so we can go in?"

Frisk looked around for the suspicious eyes he felt watching him, and they were nowhere to be found, as usual.

Frisk walked over to Papyrus, who handed him a pair of keys, and he unlocked the door.

"Thank you for not running back to the river!" Papyrus said hoisting Frisk up under one arm, pushing the door shut with his bones, and walking towards the couch all without looking away from his book.

Papyrus dropped Frisk on the couch and kept reading the book while walking to the kitchen to check on the food. Frisk landed on his stomach on top of his book. He sat up and leaned back against the couch.

"You can watch the TV if you want to, human," Papyrus said from the kitchen. "The remote should be on the couch somewhere."

Frisk looked on the arm of the couch and found the remote to the left of him. He turned on the TV, and not surprisingly, Mettaton was there hosting a game show. Frisk leaned backwards and stared at the ceiling while listening to the show.

He remembered killing Mettaton. Frisk remembered killing all of them. Though he reversed everything he did wrong, the memories still haunted him. Frisk could never forget, and as much as he wanted to be happy, he could never forgive himself. If the others knew, Frisk just knew that they would never forgive him either.

"The spaghetti's almost done, human," Papyrus said walking in and sitting next to Frisk on the couch while still reading his book. "You'll eat again soon. I know you'll like it."

Papyrus hadn't put that book down since he left the library. Frisk had to see what it was. He put his book on the floor and scooted closer, so he could get a look. The book was titled _Depression and Its Causes_.

"You curious about what I'm reading, Frisk?" Papyrus said giving Frisk a sideways glance. "Here, have a look."

Papyrus placed the book on Frisk's lap, so he could read it for himself.

"After we left the grocery store, I realized that since I'm going to be treating your depression I should know more about what depression is," Papyrus said. "I've learned so much already. For example, did you know that being quiet and withdrawn are symptoms? That's why you've barely spoken since arriving. It makes so much sense. It also said that symptoms tend to be the same no matter how old the patient is. Wait a second! How old are you, human?"

"Ten," Frisk said.

"Ten?" Papyrus said looking like he was pondering something for a second before he had his revelation. "Oh, my God! That means you're not a full-grown human! You're still a child! Wait a minute. If you're still a baby human, then where are your parents?"

"They're on the other side," Frisk said shedding a tear at the memory.

"On the other side of what? Oh…you mean they're dead…I'm sorry, Frisk. I know how that feels. Sans and I don't have parents either. I mean I remember having a Dad, but he died. At least, that's what Sans said. He doesn't like talking about it…Hey! Since you're still a kid, does that mean you're going to grow bigger?"

"Yes."

"That's hard to believe now since you're still so small. Nyeh heh heh! Wait, I need to see if that changes anything about how you're treated."

Papyrus picked up the book and started flipping through it again.

Frisk finally felt the nerve to say something.

"Papyrus, when will I be allowed to leave?" Frisk asked. "I know you said I could leave when I was feeling better, but what do you consider better?"

Papyrus looked up from his book and held out his left hand. Immediately, Frisk's soul came out and another motion revealed Frisk's health stats. He was at 1 HP.

"You see that?" Papyrus asked.

Frisk nodded.

"That represents how healthy you are, not just physically but also psychologically," Papyrus explained. "Your HP can only heal naturally when they're both healing. If your head isn't in the right place, your physical health doesn't improve either."

"That's why Sans wouldn't let you heal me," Frisk said.

"Yes," Papyrus said a bit awkwardly. "I could heal you like you can heal yourself from the items you pick up, but that only heals your body. It doesn't heal your mind. Sans and I want your mind to be better. Unless it is…well, you know…"

Frisk looked away sadly while Papyrus let go of his soul. He stared at the screen of the television how he stared at Flowey before.

"You have nothing to worry about, human," Papyrus said noticing Frisk's expression. "We'll take care of you, or, at least, I will since a certain good-for-nothing older brother is off being useless God-knows-where!"

Papyrus let himself rest against the couch and fumed.

"Honestly, he said he was going to get a toothbrush. That would take anyone else about half an hour. It's taking him over 12 hours. He wasn't even there when we went. What in God's name is Sans doing? It was his idea to take you in. You'd think he'd do some of the work. No offense, Frisk. You've been mostly cooperative. Sans is just so aggravating! He's so lazy! You can't rely on him to do anything!

Papyrus sighed and said, "How did I get stuck with an older brother like him? Honestly, I could have been given anyone else! Argh. Siblings. Am I right?"

"I don't know," Frisk said sadly remembering his own life. "I don't have any. I don't have anyone."

"What? You mean you don't have any brothers or sisters or any other family at all? How about friends? Don't you have any of those?"

"No. After my parents died about two or three years ago, I was on my own. I didn't want to go to an orphanage, so I ran away and kept wandering. Now, I'm here."

"Oh, my God," Papyrus said dropping the book onto the floor. "It's no wonder you're so sad. You've been alone for a really long time."

A few more tears started falling from Frisk's eyes. He tried to hold them back, but they kept flowing more and more quickly. The memories all came flooding back. The memories of happiness with the parents who loved him, taught him, protected him, and passed down everything they knew about determination filled his heart with bitterness as the memories of struggle, of loneliness, and of regret in the world above that he had forgotten all filled his mind with their images. Before he knew it, Frisk could only see the tears flowing out of his eyes.

Frisk suddenly felt Papyrus picking him up and giving him a warm hug. Papyrus rubbed his back again, like his parents used to do. Frisk could not make himself stop crying.

"I know how you feel," Papyrus said. "You're scared and sad, right? It's okay. I can't replace your parents, but I'll be your friend and honorary big brother! Nyeh heh heh! I'll be a million times better than Sans is, too. You'll never be alone again. I promise."

Frisk knew Papyrus meant every word. Frisk responded with a tight hug. Papyrus, on his end, was surprised by the response. All he could do was smile in response while waiting for Frisk to calm down. Papyrus was even more surprised when he felt Frisk's HP raise by one point.


	6. Chapter 6

Frisk sat on the couch while Papyrus was in the kitchen. He sat and remembered the past he had not thought of in a long time. He remembered the night he left.

 _His parents were in the army on the surface. His father, Franc, and his mother, Necese, were each descendants of the original line of wizards who used their determination to banish the monsters to the Underground. They met in the orphanage they grew up in and used their determination to earn their place in the army. They supported each other as friends, and later, as husband and wife. Then after years of trying, they finally had a son._

 _The three of them had a happy life. That is, until, his parents had to fight monsters that had escaped and were taking out their vengeance on humans. Franc and Necese were merciful in that fight. They fought until the monsters were too weak to fight back, and then, they spared their lives. They were always merciful. They were pacifists. The monsters weren't. They fatally wounded them. His parents only lived long enough to see Frisk one last time at the hospital._

 _Frisk remembered that day well. Up until recently, it was the worst day of his life._

 _His parents' mutual friend, a nun from their orphanage name Ally who had been looking after him while his parents were away, picked him up from school, told him everything, and brought him to the hospital. Remembering it still felt like a dream._

 _Ally opened the door, and Frisk saw his parents barely hanging onto life lying in their beds covered in bloody bandages. They were holding each other's hands._

 _"_ _Mom! Dad!" Frisk yelled dropping his backpack on the ground. "Ally told me what happened. Why didn't you kill them first? Why did you let them hurt you?"_

 _They both smiled at him weakly and gave him their hands. He grabbed onto them immediately._

 _"_ _Frisk," his mother said. "We did the right thing. We showed mercy."_

 _"_ _But…" Frisk said._

 _"_ _We knew the risk, son," his father said. "But we did it because it was the right thing to do. They were young monsters who were angry and stupid, like me and your mother were when we were younger. We wanted to give them a chance, like we were given. Even if we have to go now, it was worth the risk. One day, we hope you'll understand."_

 _"_ _No, don't say that," Frisk said starting to cry. "You have determination. You don't have to die now! You can fight it! Please! If you die, I'll be by myself!"_

 _"_ _We're trying, Frisk," Necese said trying to hold back her tears. "But it's no use…"_

 _"_ _Why?" Frisk asked with tears falling freely this time. "Why can't you fight it?"_

 _"_ _The monsters cast a poison spell," Franc said more weakly this time. "It's destroying our bodies from the inside. We're about to be with our Maker, but you'll see us again, Frisk. You don't have to be scared. Until then, Ally will look after you at the orphanage. I'm so sorry. We love you so much. We'd give anything to stay…"_

 _Franc started to cry so his wife spoke for him, "We're so proud of the young man you are. We'll always be proud of you, and we'll always be with you, Frisk. Until you see us again, we need you to be strong and determined. We also need you to be good. This world can be a hellish place, but it can also be so beautiful. Mercy is part of what makes it beautiful. Please be merciful for us."_

 _"_ _I'll love him as my own," Ally said holding onto her friend's free hand._

 _"_ _We know you will," Necese replied through her own tears. "Thank you for being a mother to us. You've been the closest thing to family we've ever had. You've been so sweet and so wise. Please do the same thing for Frisk since we can't…"_

 _Her voice trailed off, but Ally knew what she wanted to say._

 _"_ _You'll be free from the pain soon," Ally said being as strong as she could. "You'll be in a better place. We will see each other again. Thanks for being a friend to me, too."_

 _"_ _It was our pleasure, Ally," Franc said._

 _"_ _No," Frisk cried. "Don't go! I love you."_

 _"_ _I still remember when you were born," Franc said through the tears. "We had waited for years to have a child."_

 _"_ _We prayed and prayed and did everything else we could," Necese said. "The doctors told us it might not be possible, but we stayed determined and didn't give up."_

 _"_ _Then, the day your mother told me that she was pregnant with you was the happiest day of our lives," Franc said slowly._

 _"_ _The day you were born was even better," Necese said even more slowly. "You were our miracle child and every day we got with you was another miracle. It has been so wonderful, Frisk."_

 _"_ _We're so proud to have you as our son, Frisk," Franc said closing his eyes. "We love you and know you'll do us proud…"_

 _"_ _Go be someone else's miracle child…" Necese said also closing her eyes._

 _They breathed their last. The monitors flatlined, and Frisk felt the life go out of their hands._

 _"_ _No…" Frisk said quietly letting go of their hands and turning his head towards the floor._

 _He heard an odd noise and looked back up. It was his parents' souls rising from their bodies. They were both red._

 _"_ _Mom? Dad?" Frisk asked in awestruck bewilderment._

 _The souls flew towards him and nuzzled up to his cheeks as if they were each giving him a kiss._

 _"_ _We love you," he heard them both say. "Stay determined. We will see each other again."_

 _The souls then flew towards Ally who was on her knees praying. She whispered something quietly while holding out her hands. When the souls reached her hands, her hands glowed. The souls glowed too until they disappeared. While Ally continued praying, Frisk grabbed his backpack and ran out of the room and down the hall until he ran out of the hospital's entrance._

 _It was pouring down rain, but Frisk didn't stop running. His eyes were blinded by the rain and by his tears, but he didn't stop. He didn't stop until he reached his home, which was thankfully not far from the base or its hospital._

 _Frisk unlocked the door with the key he wore around his neck and ran inside. He dumped the contents of his backpack out on the kitchen table and prepared to run. Frisk refused to go to an orphanage. He didn't want to be near there or anywhere that reminded him of them ever again._

 _His parents had taught him how to pack for long journeys and emergencies. He knew what he had to get. He got plastic bags and filled them with water bottles and some snacks from his cupboard. Frisk then ran to his room, grabbed some underwear and several pairs of socks, some toiletries from his bathroom, the mp3 player with the charger his father let him use, a few books and maps, all the money he had saved, and a small bear his mother had given him._

 _Frisk then changed out of his wet clothes into some dry ones and looked out the window. The rain had finally stopped falling. He turned to his bedside table and saw a photo of him and his parents from happier days. After hesitating for a few seconds, Frisk took the photo out of its frame and quickly put it in one of the plastic bags he had stuffed into his backpack. A few more tears started falling, so he ran into his bathroom to grab some more toilet paper. Then, he left._

 _The last thing Frisk remembered of that night was shutting the door of his house, looking back one more time, and running away as fast as he could to catch the first bus out of town._

 _The next thing he remembered was the next morning when he woke up on that bus with the headphones of the mp3 player still in his ears. He was very far away from home, and he didn't know or care where he was._

"Frisk!" Papyrus yelled waking Frisk up from his flashback. "Your food's ready! Come on!"

Frisk hopped off the couch and walked gingerly to the kitchen smelling the worst food he had ever smelled in his life, which said something because he had eaten out of dumpsters.


	7. Chapter 7

Frisk walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Papyrus set down in front of him a glass of water and a plate of spaghetti and meat sauce that smelled…indescribable. Frisk bent his face down close enough to smell it as was his habit with food he found questionable and immediately gagged.

"Frisk, that is not how you eat artisan spaghetti," Papyrus said pulling back his shoulders until he was resting against the back of the chair. "You eat it with utensils. Wow. You've been out on those streets for far too long. You've forgotten how to eat nice food. Not to worry. I'll find you a napkin and utensils and tell you what to do."

Papyrus turned away, and Frisk looked around desperately for a trashcan to dump his spaghetti in. He spotted a trash can in the corner. Unfortunately, he was too late. Papyrus walked over with a napkin and knife and fork.

"The napkin goes in your lap, like so," Papyrus said putting the napkin in Frisk's lap and then putting the fork and knife in his hands and cutting the food, "Then, you cut up the spaghetti like this, so you can eat it in bite-sized pieces. Now, you try."

Papyrus let go of his hands, and Frisk cut up the spaghetti like Papyrus showed him though he really didn't need the help. He did it slowly to avoid the painful and inevitable for as long as possible.

"Good job, Frisk," Papyrus said. "Now, eat as much as you want. We're celebrating!"

"What are we celebrating?" Frisk asked in confusion.

"What? You mean you didn't notice? Your HP has gone up. You're one step closer to being all better."

Papyrus waved his hand and made Frisk's soul and HP appear. Frisk looked at it and realized that his HP had indeed gone up by one point.

"But how?" Frisk asked himself out loud.

"I gave you a reason to have hope," Papyrus said proudly. "That's how. Nyeh heh heh! It's because of my friendship and older brothering. I gave you love and support so now you're just a little bit happier than you were before. You're one step closer to loving life again."

Frisk said, "Thank you. I have always wanted an older brother."

"And I've always wanted a little brother who appreciates me and doesn't make fun of me every ten seconds like my OTHER brother does. Looks like we both win."

Frisk smiled genuinely for the first time in recent memory.

"Now, eat your lunch," Papyrus said pushing the food closer to Frisk. "I just know it'll make your stats go up even more."

"Suddenly, I'm not really hungry," Frisk said pushing the food away. "I don't think I'm feeling well."

"You can't fool me, Frisk," Papyrus said pushing the food back towards him. "I've been reading about depression. I know a loss of appetite is a symptom. That's why I must insist that you eat. It'll make you feel better."

"I'm going to lie down," Frisk said pushing the food away again.

"Come on. Just eat it already. Just one bite. Please."

"I can't."

"Eat."

"No."

"Eat!"

"No!"

"EAT!"

"NO!"

"Leave him alone, Papyrus," a voice just outside the kitchen said.

They both turned around to see Sans.

"Where have you been?!" Papyrus asked crossing his arms in annoyance.

"I spent the night with a friend and went out to eat at Grillby's," Sans said walking into the kitchen holding a to-go box from Grillby's and sitting in a chair across from Frisk.

"You were supposed to be getting a toothbrush!"

"Right, I knew there was something I forgot to do."

"You are so irresponsible! While you were off boondoggling, I had to go to the store to get supplies and look after the human all by myself! Maybe, he hasn't been that bad, but he's still been depressed!"

"But you've done such a good job. You didn't need my help."

"Of course, not. I, the Great Papyrus, am the world's best human-sitter! It is my royal guard duty now. Undyne said so."

"No kidding. She knows about him and she's alright with him staying with you?"

"Well, until he gets better…I convinced her that it was dishonorable to kill an enemy who had no will to live."

"Was it hard?"

"Not really, she seemed reluctant to kill Frisk after he got on his knees and begged her to kill him."

"I gotcha. Well, good job, Pap!"

"Thank you…Wait, I'm still mad at you…"

"How ya doing, Frisk?" Sans asked taking his attention off Papyrus who was fuming against the stove. "You're looking good. My clothes seem a bit big for ya, but that's okay. You might fill them out better when you're less malnourished. Speaking of which, I brought you some food."

Sans put the to-go box on the table and pushed it in front of Frisk. He opened the box and looked inside. It was a hamburger with fries.

"Thanks for the effort, Sans," Papyrus said sarcastically. "But that wasn't necessary. As you can see, I've already made him spaghetti. He doesn't want…"

Frisk couldn't control himself. He grabbed the burger and started forking it down as quickly as he could. It was better than any burger he had ever had. Frisk enjoyed its flavor so much that he didn't care about the conversation going on.

"Woah," Sans said in amusement. "Calm down, kid. You're eating like you haven't had a decent meal in years."

"He probably hasn't," Papyrus said. "He's been homeless for almost three years. He told me."

"Seriously?" Sans asked looking over Frisk in newfound pity.

"Yeah, he's also only a kid. He's not fully-grown yet. He's a baby human."

"I knew that already…"

"I didn't. That means he's going to get bigger than this."

"Probably…"

"Oh, I learned something else, too. His parents are dead, and he has no other family or friends to look after him. He's been living on the streets, Sans, and he's been lonely. That's one reason he's been so depressed, but I've made it better and increased his HP by one point."

"Nice! How'd you do that?"

"I'VE ADOPTED HIM!"

Sans and Frisk froze in action. Everything was silent for a moment except for Frisk swallowing his food and dropping his burger in the box.

Then they looked at Papyrus and simultaneously said, "WHAT?!"

"I told him I'd be his friend and honorary older brother since he doesn't have a biological one, Sans," Papyrus said excitedly picking Frisk up and swinging him around. "I figure that involves some sort of adoption. Doesn't it? Come on, Sans! I'll take care of him! I mean, by default, that means you're his older brother now too, but you never do anything anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem for you. I've always wanted a little brother. Please, Sans! He's a baby human. We can't leave him by himself. We have to take care of him until he's old enough to look after himself."

"I am old enough to look after myself!" Frisk yelled trying fruitlessly to squirm out of Papyrus' arms. "I've been doing fine for three years."

"Really? What is the age of maturity for your species?"

"Ten!"

"Bull!" Sans said with a smile. "Humans ain't considered fully grown until they're at least 18. You need someone to look after you, kid."

"Then, that means…" Papyrus said getting more and more excited.

"Yes, we can adopt the human," Sans said nonchalantly. "I mean, there are a lot of things we have to figure out first, but he can stay here. I don't mind. You're just going to have to figure out what to tell Undyne."

Papyrus stopped swinging Frisk around and said thoughtfully, "You're right. She can't fight him if he's never leaving…"

"Wait!" Frisk yelled finally shaking out of Papyrus' grip and landing on the floor. "I said I wanted to be your friend. I never said anything about living here permanently. You both said I could leave when I was 'better!' I can't just stay here forever!"

"Why not?" Sans asked. "What else are you gonna do? The last time I checked your only plan was to let yourself die."

Frisk's sad eyes looked at the ground for a second. He tried to come up with a meaningful answer, but he couldn't think of one.

"Come on, Frisk!" Papyrus said trying to make him feel better. "This place won't be like the orphanages on the surface you stayed away from. It'll be much cooler because you get to live with your friends who are also orphans! We'll be the best family ever! You'll still get to see the Underground. Wait, I have an idea…"

Papyrus turned to Sans and started discussing something. Frisk didn't hear what it was. He didn't listen. He saw his chance. Frisk snuck over to the door as quietly as he could.

He meant what he had said to Papyrus. He wanted to be friends. Frisk just didn't want to stay there permanently. He did not want to relearn how to live in a home. The only home he had ever had was with his parents, and now that they were gone…

Frisk reached the handle. Sadly, that's when his soul came out of his chest and he felt himself being pulled backwards into the kitchen.

"Did you forget I could do that?" Sans asked in amusement while moving Frisk back into his chair.

Frisk responded by crossing his arms and lying with his face down on top of them trying to hide his frustrated tears.

"What's gotten into you, Frisk?" Papyrus asked rubbing his back again. "I thought you wanted to be our friend."

Frisk looked up, wiped his eyes, and said, "I do. I just don't want to be forced to live…"

Right then, Papyrus took a fork full of spaghetti and put it into Frisk's mouth. He then held his glove over his mouth so that Frisk had no choice but to swallow the food. His eyes immediately started watering. It happened so quickly that Sans didn't even have time to react. Frisk felt like his stomach had caught on fire.

"Pap, what did you do that for?!" Sans asked incredulously.

"He was refusing to eat my spaghetti," Papyrus said while Frisk's eyes went bloodshot and his skin paled. "What else was I supposed to do? If he's living here, Frisk needs to…Frisk?"

Frisk ran to the garbage can in the corner room and immediately started throwing up. It was only one bite, but the spaghetti was bad enough to make him empty the contents of his stomach.

"Oh, my God," Papyrus said. "Frisk, you should have told me you were allergic to spaghetti! Why didn't you say anything?!"

"He was probably afraid of hurting your feelings, bro," Sans said.

"Dammit! I've been a big brother for like 30 minutes, and I've already almost killed him! Maybe I'm not cut out for this after all. What do I do, Sans?! He's gonna die!"

"No, he's not, Pap. Stay calm. He'll be fine. He just needs a few things."

"Okay, what does he need?!"

"When he's done vomiting, he'll need water since he'll be thirsty…"

"Alright, what else?!"

"He's going to need something for his stomach since it's burning right now. Anything with ginger will be fine."

"Where do I find it?"

"They should have it at the store."

"Alright! Don't worry, Frisk. You'll be…Where'd he go? Frisk?!"

"He's sitting by the front door."

"Oh!"

Frisk was sitting on the ground and leaning against the doorframe with the front door open. His coat was under him serving as a cushion, so he could soak up as much cold air as possible. Frisk leaned out to the right of the stoop, scooped up a handful of fresh snow, picked up some of it with his other hand, and put it in his mouth to suck out the water.

That was when he felt himself being hit on the back of the head causing him to spit out the snow in his mouth.

"Frisk, no!" Papyrus chided. "Do not eat snow! You don't know where that's been!"

"It's the fresh stuff," Frisk said leaning his head back against the doorframe. "It's not dirty."

"I don't care. It could make you sick!"

"I'm already sick."

"We don't want you to get sicker! Here, drink this water. It'll make you feel better."

Papyrus handed Frisk his glass of water. He took it and drank it immediately.

"Good job, Frisk! Keep up the good work. I shall return! I'm going to get you some ginger ale!" Papyrus said before he sprinted out the door. "Don't die!"

Frisk put the glass down in front of him and continued leaning against the door. Sans walked over and sat down next to him.

"You'll have to forgive Papyrus," Sans said. "He didn't mean to poison you. He was just too excited about having someone to feed."

"It's okay," Frisk said.

The two were silent for a moment until Sans decided to speak again.

"About the whole 'adoption' thing," Sans said. "I think I've worked out a compromise you'll like. Papyrus and I talked about it, and well, he's willing to let you leave when you're better and let you explore the Underground, but you have to come back. That's the compromise. Does that sound good to you?"

Frisk didn't say anything. Sans looked at him and at the strange scars on his arms that he had not noticed before.

"It sounds fine to me anyway," Sans said looking away again. "I don't really mind the idea of having you around. You make Papyrus happy, and from your HP, it seems that he makes you happy, too. You know. It's weird. The first time I met you was yesterday when you were running away from me and Papyrus, but I feel like I've known you for much longer…"

Frisk tensed up at the last sentence. That movement was not lost on Sans.

"You should know. The reason I was gone last night and today is that I was talking to the lady who lives in the Ruins," Sans said making Frisk tense up even more. "I know you know her. She was worried about you and told me everything that happened between you. You started going on about weird things, about things you haven't done to people you shouldn't know. You left her very scared, especially considering you left behind a suicide note."

Frisk started shaking.

Sans put his hand on his shoulder and said, "Look, kid. I'm not mad at you. I'm not going to hurt you either, but you really should stop hurting others. You really hurt Toriel with what you did. You ran off when all she wanted to do was help you. That's not a good thing to do, and I'm guessing it's not the first time you've done it either. Is it? I believe you when you say your parents are dead and you don't have a family, but there was someone who cared about you. Wasn't there?"

A tear fell from Frisk's eye as he remembered Ally. He had returned home to see her, but when he did…

"There was," Frisk admitted. "But she's gone, too."

Sans stood up, put his hands in his pockets, sighed, and said, "I knew it. I can usually tell when people ain't being completely honest. Let me go upstairs to find you something for your stomach. I have more things I want to ask you if you're willing to talk. You don't need to run away, though. I won't force you to say anything you aren't ready to. You have nothing to fear from me. I only want to help."

Sans then shortcut away into thin air. Frisk leaned against the doorframe fighting his nausea and figuring out what to do next.


	8. Chapter 8

"Did you change your mind, kid?" the familiar creepy voice said making Frisk freeze in terror as he slowly looked up to see Flowey. "I've been getting tired of waiting. Are those two getting in your way? I could get them out of the way if you wanted me to."

Impulsively, Frisk grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at him. Flowey dodged it just in time.

"Woah," he said mockingly. "Look who has more determination than before. Let's look at your health stats. Shall we?"

Flowey pulled Frisk's soul out to look at his health stats and said, "Look at that. Two whole points. For you, that's pitiful, but what did I expect? You did try to drown yourself in the river after all."

Frisk's eyes flashed in fear, an expression that Flowey had missed.

"Yes, I saw that," Flowey said. "And I must admit that was clever. There was no way I could have retrieved your soul from that river. It would have disappeared long before I could have had the chance to grab it. Too bad that didn't work and it's not going to work again. If only those two hadn't got in the way…"

Frisk looked away to hide his tears, but he wasn't very successful.

"Awww!" Flowey said even more mockingly than before. "I know. You just want all the pain to stop. Don't you? You want all the guilt and sadness you feel to vanish into dust, like they did before you worked your magic. You want everyone to have a happy ending, but it's never gonna happen. No, never, no matter how many times you carve your spell."

Frisk looked down at the scars on his arms, and Flowey looked around to make sure that they were in fact alone.

"Good," Flowey said. "It looks like I'll be able to do what I came for after all. Look, boy, I know that you're HP was 1 when they pulled you out of that river. Now, it's at 2. What happened? Come on. You know you can tell your old friend, Flowey. They raised your spirits. Didn't they? Ordinarily, that would make this game more interesting, but yesterday, I was so close to retrieving a soul. You can't imagine how good that felt. When your determination is completely restored, it will be business as usual and I'll have to wait even longer to get what I want. I'm tired of waiting. So, how about we end this game now, just like you wanted?"

"No," Frisk said quietly as he crawled backwards as quickly as he could and tried getting on his feet to run away while Flowey stretched his vines towards him.

He tried screaming, but Flowey wrapped his vines around his hands, feet, and his mouth and pulled him out into the snow.

"Shhh…." Flowey said while Frisk struggled before he electrocuted him into submission. "Stop making so much noise, child. The adults are busy. You wouldn't want to bother them. Would you? Why don't we go somewhere quieter and have some fun?"

Flowey looked around making sure they were still alone and went underground while dragging Frisk in the direction of the river in the shadows on the surface. For Frisk, it was a terrifying ride as he struggled all he could but could not escape his grip until they made it to the river.

"We're here," Flowey sang out surfacing once they had arrived. "Your last destination. Now, this is the ending you deserve. Getting baptized into the service of the god you tried to defy. Yes, this is just perfect."

Flowey picked Frisk up and held him just barely over the surface of the river so that he was staring at his own reflection. Flowey was giddy with excitement.

"I'm feeling generous, kid," Flowey said. "So, about this? If you drown quickly and don't struggle, I'll spare the lives of your skeleton friends. If not, well, their deaths will be the most painful of…AHHHHH!"

Flowey shrieked in surprise and dropped Frisk into the river. He swam upwards to see what had happened. It was Sans. He had picked Flowey up by his soul telekinetically.

"You call yourself a god who deserves to be served, but you get your energy from people without the will to fight back," Sans said to Flowey with one eye glowing in blue while Frisk just managed to grab onto the root of a tree that was sticking out of the bank. "Toriel was right. You're pathetic. You're just a piece of crap who needs to be burned with the rest of the weeds."

"You don't know what you're doing, Sans," Flowey said quickly regaining his composure while hovering in the air. "You know what that boy is capable of. What I'm doing is really for the best. I think you know this as well I do. I know you remember…"

"Frisk, get out of the river!" Sans yelled looking at Frisk who was frozen in place.

"Come on, Sans. End the threat. I know you want to."

"Now!"

Sans used his free hand to pull Frisk out of the river and dropped him on shore.

"Dry yourself off," Sans yelled while Flowey reached his vines towards Sans' neck and Frisk struggled to get to his feet. "I have to drop this weed off with…Argh!"

Flowey wrapped his vines around Sans' neck causing him to drop Flowey onto the ground. He tangled him up in his vines and gagged him like he did Frisk.

"Okay, human, you're free to go," Flowey said cheerily.

Frisk stood there in fear and confusion. Sans couldn't say anything.

"I know you heard me," Flowey said. "You're free to go. I have found another soul to play with. I don't want to play with you anymore. You're too boring now. All you want to do is die. Sans is much more interesting."

Frisk looked at the river and back at Sans and back to the river. He could die right there. He could be free.

"End yourself any way you want," Flowey said looking at Frisk. "I won't come for you. Really, this is the best ending you could get. Everyone here will always remember what you did deep down. Those memories mean you'll never get the ending you want, no matter how many times you reset. Go get the ending you need."

Frisk turned away and Sans' heart sank in dismay as he walked towards the river.

"God, he's so stupid," Flowey whispered to Sans. "He's an idiot if he really thinks I'm letting him go. Don't worry. I'll let you go as soon as he drowns…"

Sans didn't listen to the rest. He was watching the boy he desperately tried to save. Frisk hesitated at the river's bank then he crouched down and picked something up. Sans watched as Frisk's HP went up by another point and continued watching while he ran over with a large stick and whacked Flowey as hard as he could on the back of the head.

The blow stunned Flowey and knocked him a few yards away causing him to loosen his hold and allow Sans to escape.

Frisk walked over to Flowey still holding the stick and said, "I may not care what happens to me, but I care what happens to my friends. I will not let you hurt them!"

Flowey sat up with a groan and looked Frisk in the eye.

"There, it is," Flowey said happily. "Yes. It is returning, the fire behind those amber eyes, the determination in your soul. Maybe I was too greedy and tried to end things too soon…"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Sans yelled lifting Flowey telekinetically again and aiming a Gaster Blaster straight for him. "You're going away. If somehow you do escape and try to bother Frisk or my brother ever again, you're going to have a bad time."

"This won't make it end, you know," Flowey said to Frisk. "The game is going to continue, and even if I'm gone, nothing's gonna change, Frisk. You should have let me believe you were her. You should have gone on to the end. We could have gone on to destroy this whole world together!"

"Shut up!" Sans yelled.

"You're stuck in this game like I am," Flowey said. "You'll eventually lose your mind again, and the only way it could be made better is if you made it so you never showed up in the first place."

Frisk's eyes lit up in realization. Flowey knew he got to him. Sans made the Gaster Blaster move right in Flowey's face.

"Your determination is returning," Flowey said looking around it. "I think you could do it. You know what you have to do. Even if it doesn't work, what do you have to lose?"

Frisk immediately took off back to the house.

"Frisk, what are you doing?!" Sans yelled. "Frisk!"

"Frisk?" Sans heard Papyrus yell while he ran past him and Undyne, who was holding bags of ginger ale. "Why are you all wet? Sans? Flowery? What's going on?"

"What the hell is that?" Undyne said looking at Flowey.

Flowey laughed in his creepy, disturbing voice that was all too familiar to Frisk but was beyond terrifying to everyone else.

"That should do it," Flowey said with a twisted smile. "That should end him for sure. Ah, playing mind games with him has been so much fun."

"Flowery…" Papyrus said in disbelief while Undyne dropped the bags and got out her spear.

"What in God's name are you talking about?" Sans asked angrily. "Unless you want to die now, you'll tell me."

"You know how determination works," Flowey said. "Don't you? You should. You're the one who's done all the research…"

Frisk reached the house and stopped at the door to catch his breath.

"Determination lies within the souls of those who can use it. The person with its power can use it to do anything. It can be used to the benefit of the person holding its power to heal, to reach an impossible goal, to create a save file, or to go back to a previous save file after a death…"

Frisk slowly walked to the bathroom underneath the stairs.

"And it can be used to the benefit of the outside world to do things like reset time or create a barrier that monsters can't pass…"

Frisk switched on the lights and shut and locked the door behind him.

"However, doing those bigger things requires a little something extra from a person," Flowey said more maliciously.

"What do you mean?!" Sans asked.

"The magic of determination is made from the tears, sweat, and blood of the person who yields its power. To change the world out here, you need the three outside the user's body, but one of them must be out in enough abundance to spread the magic to make it happen. Now, tell me, Sans. If you're too cold to sweat and you've cried all your tears, what is left to use?"

Sans gasped in horror. Meanwhile, Frisk wrapped the t-shirt he was wearing around his right hand and punched out the mirror.


	9. Chapter 9

Everyone heard the glass breaking since the front door was still open.

"Frisk, no!" Papyrus yelled running in the direction of the sound.

"Blood is the riskiest medium to get determination out," Flowey continued. "But I think he enjoys it by this point. Every time he resets, that is how he does it. In his mind, I think he feels like he's making up for one of his crimes but shedding his own blood. It's his form of a penance, and I can't say I don't enjoy seeing his blood flow. You might say I enjoy it too much. I always encourage him to do it every time he messes up."

"You, sadistic son-of-a…" Undyne said.

"You can stay here yelling at me or you can save your little Frisk," Flowey said. "You see, under the best circumstances, using blood is a psychologically and physically draining process for the one performing the ritual. If one performs it over and over, it weakens the user and gradually wears down his determination. Then eventually, when the user's determination is no longer strong enough to endure it, the loss of blood kills them. Frisk is going to die."

"God damn it," Undyne muttered under her breath while turning away to catch up with Papyrus.

Flowey reacted by laughing maniacally.

Sans glared at Flowey one more time before flinging him in the air and firing a Gaster Blaster right at him. He screamed while he was singed and fell in the river before Sans short cut back to the house.

"Frisk!" Papyrus yelled while pounding on the door. "Open the door! Do not reset time! Undyne says it'll kill you!"

"I don't care," Frisk said unemotionally.

"Why don't you care, brat?!" Undyne yelled.

"Did Flowey mention all the bad things I've done?" Frisk said.

"I don't care what you've done!" Papyrus yelled. "You can be redeemed! Please just let us in!"

"Let us in, Frisk," Sans said suddenly appearing before them.

"Sans?" Frisk asked sounding surprised.

"Frisk, let me see you," Sans said firmly like he did the day before. "We all know now that you're the one who's been resetting the timeline. Like I said before, I'm not mad. We just want you to stop. Doing this is killing you. The weed has been manipulating you because he wants you to die. We don't. Please, Frisk!"

"You don't understand," Frisk said holding the glass shard above the bare skin of his left arm. "I have to make you understand."

"Frisk, no!" Papyrus yelled.

But it was too late. Frisk sliced open the vein on his arm as he had done many times before and the blood came flowing out. Frisk then cut his other arm, so more blood would flow out and grant his wish. The blood flowed out into the air. It went under the bathroom door and surrounded the three awestruck monsters.

"Is this the blood of the determined?" Undyne asked herself. "What are you doing, human?"

"Frisk, stop it!" Papyrus yelled still pounding on the door.

Sans didn't say anything. Suddenly, everyone froze and started seeing visions in their minds. They were restored memories, every memory of every timeline that Frisk was involved in, every memory of what Frisk had seen and what had happened, every memory they had that was erased, even from the very first timeline.

"What the hell?" Undyne asked. "What is this?"

"I died…" Papyrus said in realization. "You killed me. You killed all of us."

"Frisk…" Sans said in horror at what he was seeing.

"These are my memories," Frisk said. "I am burning them into your minds along with all the memories from this timeline. Now, you can't forget. You won't forget when I reset this timeline. You understand now why I have to do this."

"How could you?!" Undyne asked angrily. "Why did you murder us when you first came here?!"

"Monsters killed my parents," Frisk replied sadly through his tears. "They were soldiers who were defending our city. They showed mercy and the monsters they spared poisoned them for it. The only reason I got to see them before they died was because they used all their determination to stay alive long enough to see me one last time. I had to watch them die. Then, I ran away and abandoned the only friend I had. I was so stupid and angry. When I fell down here and Flowey tried to kill me, I snapped. I thought that all monsters were deceitful and murderous. I thought I had to kill or be killed. I thought somehow I was doing the right thing and that none of you felt anything anyway…"

Undyne's expression changed. Her expression was immediately downcast and filled with regret.

"That changed when I met you in the Judgement Hall, Sans," Frisk said.

Sans' memory immediately flashed to that event.

"You wanted to kill me to avenge your brother," Frisk said. "Once you said that, I realized that you and I were the same. All the monsters and humans were the same deep down. I broke down in front of you and vowed to change the past, so you could be with your brother and everyone in the Underground could have a happy ending. I went back, and I've been going back ever since because I've failed. I can't control my strength. I always go too far, but now, I'm getting out of your lives permanently. I'm going back to before I fell in. I'm going to disappear from your story."

"Frisk, hurting yourself isn't going to make anything right," Papyrus said pounding on the door again. "Despite what you did, I still want to be your friend. You can't go."

"Goodbye," Frisk said. "I'm sorry."

Frisk concentrated his willpower and created a reset button as he had before, but when he pressed it, nothing happened. Frisk pressed it again and again, but nothing happened. Immediately, it dissolved, and all his blood dropped to the ground.

 _"_ _You will not keep doing this, my son,"_ Frisk heard the One from his dreams say. _"You have to stop running…"_

"GOD, NO!" Frisk screamed. "DON'T DO THIS! LET ME GO!"

 _"_ _Frisk, you need to make a choice,"_ the Voice said. _"You have to face your pain…"_

"NO!" Frisk yelled. "I need to be free! If you won't let me reset, let me go!"

Frisk's tears fell as he held onto the glass shard and desperately got to work while he collapsed on the ground.

"Who is he yelling at?" Papyrus asked out loud. "I don't hear anybody!"

"His Maker," Undyne said before she charged at the door with her spear and used all her strength to pry open the door.

Once she tossed the door aside, they found a horrible sight. Frisk was lying against the wall surrounded by the glass shards on the floor. He was crying and stabbing himself with the glass shard he was holding. The scars from all the other resets were glowing, too. There was blood everywhere.

"Oh, my God," Papyrus said as his eyes filled with tears.

Undyne kicked the glass shard out of his hand and said, "Listen up, punk! You are not dying unless I say so! Papyrus, stop the bleeding!"

"I'm on it," Papyrus said getting on his knees.

He held out his hands and healed Frisk as quickly as he could while Frisk's eyes fluttered open and shut. He was fading in and out of consciousness and was barely aware of what was happening anymore. The only one Frisk was paying attention to was His voice.

 _"_ _Frisk, all you've wanted to do is make things right, but this isn't the way," He said. "You are not capable of being a sacrifice for your own sins. Trying to be one is only hurting you."_

"I don't understand," Papyrus said fearfully. "I can only heal the shallow scratches. I can't heal anything else. What is going on…?"

"It's his determination," Sans said finally breaking his silence. "He doesn't want to be healed, so he's counteracting your magic."

"No…" Papyrus said grabbing Frisk by his shoulders. "Come on, Frisk! Please! Let me help you! I don't care what you were before. You're not evil anymore! Let yourself live!"

Frisk could barely hear Papyrus, but he knew what he was saying.

 _"_ _Accept my mercy, Frisk," the Voice said. "Let me come in and cleanse your soul of its sin. In return, accept the mercy of others and let yourself be forgiven so that you can learn to spare others as your parents did…"_

"I know what we have to do," Sans said. "If we want to save him, we have to sedate him. That's the only way to break his hold."

"I have my sleeping pills with me," Undyne said pulling the bottle out of her pocket. "I actually decided to help Papyrus with groceries just so I could let you borrow some. But I don't know if he can swallow a pill like this…"

Sans short cut to his room and short cut back holding a bowl and a grinding stone.

He handed those items to Undyne and said, "Grind one of those pills into powder. I'll get the water."

 _"_ _The only thing you have to let go is your pride," the Voice said. "But I will give your soul real love and real redemption. I will dwell in it and never let you go. I'll be your truest friend. Will you accept this mercy?"_

Undyne poured the powder into the water while Papyrus propped Frisk up.

"Come on, Frisk," Papyrus said. "Drink."

"Okay," Frisk muttered out loud. "I accept this mercy…"

Papyrus and Sans looked at each other in confusion while Undyne successfully managed to get Frisk to swallow the water. He passed out immediately, and Papyrus healed him.


	10. Chapter 10

For a moment, everyone silently stared at Frisk who laid sedated in Papyrus' arms. They were catching their breath and coming to terms with everything he had told them.

Finally, Papyrus moved his hand revealing Frisk's stats.

"Strange," Papyrus said. "His health is only at 4. That's higher than it was before but still…"

"I guess the Almighty has other plans," Sans said dismissively while lifting Frisk out of his brother's hands and carrying him in his arms.

"Sans, what are you doing?" Papyrus asked as Sans turned away and carried Frisk up the stairs with surprisingly little effort.

"That weed dropped Frisk in the river when I stopped him from drowning him," Sans said stopping at the top of the stairs. "He's still cold and wet. I need to get him warmed up. By the way, this goes without saying, but stay away from Flowey if he ever comes back. He's a sadistic psychopath."

"Got it," Papyrus said sadly while Sans kept walking to his room. "Wait, Sans, let me help."

"I can handle it, Pap," Sans said stopping in his tracks while Papyrus bolted into his room to grab the heating pad and out again. "I'm his big brother too now, right? It's about time I took a shift. Besides, you've been watching Frisk all day."

"Well, in any case, take this heating pad," Papyrus said draping it over Sans' shoulder. "That should help."

"Thanks," Sans said before he made it to his door, turned open the knob, and pushed it open.

Before he could walk in, Papyrus suddenly asked, "Sans, why didn't you tell me?"

Sans finally looked his brother in the eye. Papyrus clearly felt sad, confused, and slightly betrayed.

"Why didn't you tell me about your research or about any of the multiple timelines or about anything?" Papyrus asked sadly. "Why did you think you had to bear that burden on your own? I could have helped you. I could have made it easier…"

Sans looked at the floor, sighed, and looked up again.

"Papyrus," he said. "I didn't want to burden you. I wanted you to be happy…"

"Well, I'm not happy now!" Papyrus yelled with angry tears going down his face. "You're just like Frisk. You've been depressed because you tried to keep a huge burden to yourself when you didn't need to! Don't do that anymore! We're not letting Frisk do it, so you can't do it either! We're gonna make things better together! You got that?!"

Sans smiled and said, "I got it. Thanks, bro."

Sans' HP then rose by one point.

"Sans, your HP…" Papyrus said.

"I've gotta get this human into dry clothes so I can get him to bed," Sans said quickly. "Go clean up the mess downstairs and get us all something to eat. Also, tell Undyne she can stay the night if she wants."

Sans then shut the door before Papyrus could respond.

"Hey!" Sans heard Papyrus say on the other side of the door. "This conversation is not over. We will talk about this again."

He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Papyrus go down the stairs.

Sans picked Frisk up by his soul and looked him over for a moment as he hovered in front of him. His eyes were shut, and his head was hanging limp. His face was peaceful, but his body looked like it had gone through hell. There were scars and scratches all over his arms, his chest, and torso. Those scars left bloodstains on him. He was also still dirty from being dragged on the ground and had burns from whatever that flower had done to him before he arrived.

Sans smiled at his own amusing thoughts. Even though Frisk had restored his memories, Sans almost felt like counting the scars on his arms, so he would know just how many times Frisk had tried and failed to reset the timeline.

"Damn, kid," Sans said out loud with a slight smile. "You're a mess. Inside and out."

Sans pulled off Frisk's shoes and socks, and then he walked past him towards his dresser to look for some clean clothes to replace the wet ones he was about to pull off.

Meanwhile, Papyrus walked down the stairs.

"Can you believe him, Undyne?" Papyrus asked. "Undyne?"

Undyne wasn't there. Papyrus walked outside and called her name again. Just then, she walked around the corner with the bags of ginger ale she was carrying before.

"Here, you go, Papyrus," Undyne said handing the bags to him before she continued to walk away.

"Undyne, Sans said you could spend the night with us," Papyrus said. "I figured that would make you happy in case, you know, you wanted to talk while we wait on Frisk to wake up."

Undyne stopped in place, turned around and said, "I'd like that. I'll be back."

Undyne started walking again and Papyrus asked, "Where're you going?"

"I just watched myself die like 30 times and saved the suicidal human responsible for it all," Undyne said turning around incredulously. "What do you think I'm doing? I need a drink."

"Okay," Papyrus said while she walked away. "I'll be here cleaning up the mess. Don't be out too late! I'm ordering pizza!"

Back upstairs, Frisk was lying in Sans' bed wearing dry clothes with a heating pad around his torso. Sans was sitting on the bed to the right of him, watching and thinking.


	11. Chapter 11

Papyrus cleaned up the mess and ordered pizza. Undyne came back a few hours later feeling especially inebriated. After a drunk conversation with Papyrus, she collapsed on the couch.

Sans barely left Frisk's side. He had Papyrus bring him pizza and soda. When Sans was done with that and Papyrus came back to get the trash, he asked him to go out and get him something extra for the kid.

"Here, you go, Sans," Papyrus said quietly as he walked through the door to Sans' room. "Here's a nutritious smoothie I didn't make myself."

"Thanks, Pap," Sans said taking the drink and putting it on the floor next to his bed. "That should help him. How's Undyne?"

"She's still sleeping on the couch. She said something about feeling hungover."

"So much for relying on her support."

The two brothers looked at Frisk who was now sleeping on his side facing the wall.

"When do you think he'll wake up?" Papyrus asked.

"The sleeping pill we gave him was strong enough to put an adult to sleep," Sans said. "Of course, it's going to be even stronger on a child. I'd give him until morning. If he wakes up before then, I'll get him to drink the smoothie, so he can start getting some nutrition. God knows he needs it. He doesn't have any food in his system now."

Papyrus climbed over to Frisk's side of the bed and rubbed his hair. He could see Frisk's scarred arms sticking out from under the covers.

"Poor boy," Papyrus said. "You've been carrying a heavy burden alone for far too long, but you don't have to worry about that anymore, alright? You'll feel better soon. We're gonna take care of you and make you feel great."

Sans watched and couldn't suppress a smile.

"I'm going to bed, Sans," Papyrus said pulling the covers up to Frisk's neck and climbing off the bed. "Are you going to let him sleep here all night?"

"Yeah," Sans said. "I'll watch him. You can go ahead and sleep."

After hesitating for a second, Papyrus asked, "Sans, are you still mad at him for what he did?"

"Are you?"

"This sounds weird, but no. I've already forgiven him. He's not that person anymore. I'm more worried about you. You have always been wary of him, and you tried to kill him before."

"That was another time. Why are you so concerned?"

"Sans, if you think you might try to hurt him while I'm asleep, I will take him from you now. I don't want you to kill Frisk…"

"Papyrus…"

"If you killed Frisk, I don't know if I could ever forgive you!"

Sans shrugged and said, "Papyrus, I don't want to kill the kid. To be honest, I never really did. I only wanted to before because I had no choice. If I wanted to kill him today, I wouldn't have tried so hard to save his life. I have no reason to even be wary of him now. He poses no threat to us anymore."

"Okay," Papyrus said warily. "But if I come here in the morning and anything has changed, it will take me a really long time to forgive you."

"If you come here in the morning and anything has changed, I will let you and Undyne kill me yourselves," Sans said. "That's a promise, and you know how much I hate making those."

Papyrus backed up in surprise and was silent for a moment. Then he turned around and walked to the door.

He said, "Okay, Sans, I believe you, but please don't hurt Frisk. I don't want to lose two brothers in one day."

Papyrus exited quickly without saying anything else. Sans sighed in frustration. He could tell Papyrus was crying.

"You've really complicated things, kid," Sans said turning over to Frisk. "Don't worry. It's nothing I can't figure out, but I might need your help. Please wake up soon. Okay."

Sans laid back on his pillow and fell asleep himself. The two slept side by side for most of the night.

Soon, Frisk was having another conversation in his dreams with the One who stopped him from going back in time.

"If you really think it's necessary," Frisk said humbly. "You can take away my ability to reset. I don't want to risk even the possibility of hurting anyone else."

The mist once again wrapped around Frisk and projected the warmth that could be found in a hug.

"Done," He said lovingly but firmly. "You cannot use your blood to reset anymore. You will only be able to use your save file and your determination. You are a reborn child who must face the world now. Are you scared?"

"I told them all about what I did. They saved me, but they're probably still mad. They might want retribution. What am I supposed to do when I wake up?"

"Don't be afraid. They don't want to harm you. They want to help you. Let them. By doing that, you will start learning how to receive mercy."

"What if they decide to kill me?"

"That is a chance you have to take, but if they do, they will answer to me. Don't worry. I'll be with you the entire time. I love you, Frisk. Don't forget that. Now, it's time for your first lesson."

Frisk's weary eyes slowly opened. The room he was in was dark, so he had no idea where he was. Though he was clearly on a bed, this wasn't Papyrus' room. Using his hands, Frisk felt the bed around him and felt the wall he was facing. He sat up and noticed the warm feeling around his torso again. Frisk lifted his shirt, took off the heating pad, turned it off, and laid it on the foot of the bed.

That was when Frisk heard the snoring. He looked to his right and saw Sans sleeping on a pillow next to his. Frisk gasped in surprise and scooted backwards as quickly as he could, causing him to fall off the bed.

The noise woke Sans up almost immediately.

"What?" Sans asked tiredly. "What was that? Frisk? Frisk, is that you?"

When Sans looked next to him and saw that Frisk wasn't there, he crawled over to the foot of the bed to look for him.

"Frisk? Where'd you go, kid?" Sans asked.

Sans finally made his way to the edge of the bed and saw Frisk rubbing his head on the ground. When they made eye contact, Frisk tensed up and scooted backwards on the floor.

"What happened? Did you sleepwalk?" Sans asked him while looking at him quizzically.

When Frisk didn't respond and started shaking, Sans sighed and said, "Okay, this stops now."

Sans picked Frisk up by his soul and lowered him onto the bed, but he didn't let go.

"Frisk, listen to me," Sans said as seriously as he could while looking him in the eyes, so he would get the message. "I wouldn't have saved your life if I just wanted kill you. Undyne, Papyrus, and me, we know everything now, but none of us want to hurt you so stop trying to run away and…"

"I understand," Frisk said suddenly.

"What?"

"I understand. I know. We've talked about it. He told me I can't run anymore, so I won't. I'll stay and face the consequences even if I have to…"

"Woah," Sans said with a smile. "You really did have a near-death experience."

"What?" Frisk asked in surprise.

Sans let Frisk's soul go, and he landed on his knees. Sans reached over to the floor, turned around, and handed Frisk the smoothie.

"Drink this," Sans said. "I had Papyrus buy this for you last night since you haven't had anything in your stomach for a while."

Frisk sipped it and said, "It's still cold."

"That's ice magic for ya," Sans said. "It works so much better than ice."

He then asked, "So, what was it like talking to the Man Upstairs? What was having the ultimate encounter like?"

Frisk looked at him and said, "I have had three actually. The first was when I fell asleep in the forest, the second was after I fell asleep in Papyrus' bed, and the third was…you know. I think He's been trying to get my attention for a long time though."

"What does He say when He talks to you?"

"At first, I think He was just trying to get my attention. Then when I tried to kill myself, He made me question my decision. He told me that He would give me mercy if I accepted it. He said pretty much the same thing the second time, too. Yesterday, He stepped in. He stopped me from resetting and asked me to swallow my pride so that he could grant me mercy. He told me that by receiving His mercy and learning to receive mercy from everyone else that I would be able to be merciful like my parents were. When I passed out in the bathroom, He told me that He had taken away my ability to reset and that it was time for my first lesson."

Sans eyes grew larger, but he calmed down again and said, "Sounds about right."

"I'm surprised you believe me…"

"Frisk, we live in a world where souls, magic, and monsters are real. They all had to come from something, right? Maybe He and I aren't on the best terms, but I'm not gonna deny what you experienced. That would be hypocritical."

Frisk drank another gulp of his smoothie and then said sadly, "I don't understand why I'm alive."

"There's a bigger plan for your life, kid…" Sans started to say.

"No, why didn't you let me die? I killed Papyrus, I killed Undyne, and if you didn't get through to me, I would have killed you, too."

Sans was silent.

"I know you never trusted me, Sans," Frisk said visibly more upset than before. "I know you only didn't kill me because of your promise to Toriel. Now, you know I was a threat. They all do. Why won't you take my life? I'm at peace now. I don't care if you kill me or not, but you have every reason to. I don't understand…"

"Papyrus doesn't want to kill you, because you know, he's Papyrus," Sans said lying back down on his pillow. "Deep down, he doesn't have it in him to kill anyone. For Undyne, your guess is as good as mine. She was so gung ho about taking your soul, so I'm not sure why she saved you. As for me, well, it's complicated…A long time ago, I did hate you. I thought you and your determination and your goddamn resets were the reason we could never be free. I thought that this was all a game to you, and the reason I didn't kill you when I saw you the first time was because Toriel asked me not to. In all the other timelines, including this one, I wanted to like you, even be your friend, but I always felt like I had to be cautious…"

Sans then looked at Frisk and continued, "But that was before I understood you and your reasons behind it. I understand now, Frisk. You kept going back because you wanted to make things right. Then you gave into despair because your efforts seemed to be fruitless. I know that feeling all too well. I can't stay mad at that. Besides, you were right."

"About what?" Frisk asked.

"You and I are the same. We both let our anger almost push us into making decisions we would always regret, and we've been trying to make things right ever since. Like I said before, I'm not a hypocrite, so who am I to cast the first stone?"

"Does this mean you want to be friends with me?"

"Yeah, kid. I always wanted to be. We might as well be anyway. I am your big brother now since Papyrus adopted you. Remember?"

Frisk smiled and started to tear up.

"I only have three conditions," Sans said. "The first is obvious. Don't ever try to use your blood magic to reset the timeline ever again. I know you said He took that away, but if you ever find that you can, don't."

"I won't," Frisk promised.

"Two, no blood magic unless it's an emergency. I'll be honest, Frisk. You scared us yesterday. You almost bled to death. The only reason you're not dead right now is that we had to drug you with one of Undyne's sleeping pills, so you'd let Papyrus heal you. That's why you've been asleep for over 12 hours. That was hard on all of us, but especially on Papyrus. Please don't put us or my brother through that if you can avoid it."

"I'm sorry. I won't use my blood again unless I have to. My Mom said it was too dangerous to use that often anyway. I should have listened."

"Well, listen now. Third and finally. You have to take a shower in the morning, because, my God, do you smell. Every inch of you is covered in filth."

"Okay…"

"Welcome to the family, Frisk."

Frisk couldn't hold his feelings back anymore. He crawled over to Sans, gave him a hug, and could not stop crying.

Sans was taken by surprise.

He picked up the smoothie, placed it on the floor, and said, "Kid, I just told you you're a mess, and now, you decide to hug me? Are you trying to make me stink, too?"

Frisk didn't listen. He released his hold, laid against Sans, and didn't say anything. Sans didn't push him away but let him lie against him and cry for a minute though he didn't understand why. He finally understood when he saw Frisk's HP go up by one.

"Frisk," Sans said in realization letting himself rub the boy's back. "All this time, you just wanted my approval and my love. Didn't you?"

When Frisk wouldn't let up, Sans knew it was true.

"All this time you were out there, you were cold and alone. You didn't think anyone would understand you or care about you if they knew who you really were. You were so desperately lonely. Just like me…"

Frisk finally started to calm down and just laid there against Sans. He started drifting off to sleep again.

"We're broken souls, you and I. We act so tough, but deep down, we're still scared kids. Now, neither of us will ever be alone again. I can't be your Dad, Frisk, but I'll do my best to be one of the best damn brothers you've ever had. That's a promise."

Frisk smiled and fell asleep lying against Sans' body. Sans felt his HP go up by one point, too.

He smiled, looked out the window at the top of the cave, and said, "Maybe, I don't need to stay mad at You after all."

Sans then looked back at Frisk and started humming a lullaby until he went back to sleep himself.


	12. Chapter 12

When sunlight filled Snowdin and came in through the window, Sans woke up. His eyes fell on the child who was still sleeping against his side under his left arm. He smiled. It was cute. It reminded him of Papyrus who used to do the same thing when he was little. Unfortunately, it had to stop.

Sans rubbed Frisk's hair with his left hand and said, "Hey, Frisk. It's morning. I have to go. You need to get off me."

Frisk opened his eyes, mumbled something incomprehensible, and shut his eyes again.

"Come on, kid," Sans said. "I have to use the bathroom. We can't stay like this all day. Don't make me move you by your soul. You know I will. Come on."

Frisk reluctantly rolled onto his left side off Sans and onto the bed.

"Thank you," Sans said as he got up and shortcut into the bathroom.

About ten minutes later, Sans shortcut back in and shook Frisk awake.

"Frisk, get up," Sans said. "I'm going to make us breakfast, but first, I need to show you how to open the bathroom. It's kinda tricky if you don't know what you're doing."

"Why can't we do it later?" Frisk complained.

"Because you need to take a shower, remember?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Come on, Frisk."

Frisk sat up, stretched his arms, and yawned.

"Brush your teeth, too," Sans said. "God, your breath stinks. You're a hot mess."

"It takes one to know one," Frisk said barely opening his eyes.

"Was that back sass I just heard? You and I are going to get along better than I thought. Come on."

Sans started walking towards his door, and Frisk shuffled behind him. He looked around the room and noticed how barely furnished it was compared to Papyrus' room.

"Why don't you have any furniture?" Frisk mumbled while Sans reached the door.

"It's a lifestyle choice," Sans said opening the door and walking out.

Frisk looked around and noticed a key sitting on his dresser.

"What's the key for?" Frisk asked just as he exited the room.

"I'll tell you later," Sans said quickly. "Follow me."

"Whatever."

Frisk followed Sans to the place on the wall where the bone picture was. Then he saw Undyne and walked towards the railing.

"Here, it is," Sans said. "Frisk?"

Sans turned around and noticed that Frisk was standing on tip toes to see over the railing. He was looking at Undyne.

"She had a rough night last night," Sans said quietly walking up next to him. "Let her sleep…"

"Undyne was drinking," Frisk said in an almost whisper. "Wasn't she?"

"Yeah," Sans said after hesitating for a few seconds. "How did you…?"

"There's a bottle on the floor," Frisk replied gesturing towards it with his finger.

"Oh."

"Sans, is Undyne an alcoholic?"

"No way. She wouldn't be in as good a shape as she's in now if she was."

"Okay, good. We'd have to force her to get her help if she was. My Mom's parents died because they drank too much and refused to get help…"

Frisk started hyperventilating, shedding a few tears, and talking even louder, "I saw buddies on the street die because they drank too much, too. I don't want that to happen to Undyne. I hate it when people drink too much…"

Sans could tell Frisk was on the verge of another breakdown, so he moved him away from the railing and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Shhhhhhhhh…It's okay," Sans said slowly to get Frisk to calm down. "Undyne's going to be fine. She only drank enough to give her a headache. She's not gonna die. Not from this anyway. Calm down. Just breathe."

Frisk breathed deeply for a minute and then said, "I'm sorry…"

Sans moved Frisk's chin so that they were looking at each other eye to eye and said, "Don't be. You saw something sad and the memories still upset you. That's normal. It means you're a person with feelings. Okay?"

"Okay."

Sans let go of his face and Frisk gave Sans another hug.

"Frisk, if you're gonna keep hugging me, would ya please shower?" Sans said. "You're disgusting."

Frisk let go and smiled.

"Come on," Sans said. "Let me show you how to get in."


	13. Chapter 13

Sans tilted the picture upwards and a secret door opened revealing the bathroom. Frisk stood there looking confused.

"It was Papyrus' idea," Sans explained. "He's so obsessed with puzzles he decided to make this room a secret room for no reason. Anyways, I assume you know how to operate a shower, so I'll see ya soon."

Sans walked away to go down the stairs.

"Sans," Frisk said.

"Yeah?" Sans responded stopping at the top of the stairs.

"Thank you," Frisk said. "You really are cool."

"Don't let Papyrus hear you say that now," Sans said with a smile before he continued walking down the stairs. "You're welcome, Frisk."

Frisk walked into the bathroom, flicked on the light switch, pulled the door shut behind him, and looked around.

To his left was a washing machine and a dryer sitting side by side with a long horizontal mirror hanging over them on the wall. Next to them was a garbage can, a sink with another mirror, and a toilet. On his right was a large tub and shower with a shower curtain around it with a mat right beside it and a towel rack with blue towels on it.

At the end of the room was another window. Out of curiosity, Frisk walked up to it and tried to push it open, but it was locked. Frisk climbed on the toilet and tried twisting the latch to unlock the window, but when he put his right hand on it, he felt a very small but present electric shock.

Frisk pulled his hand back and sighed. He knew who put it there and why. He climbed off the toilet, used the bathroom and washed his hands in the sink.

Frisk had to stand on the tips of his toes to look in the mirror since he was so short. He switched off the hot water so that the cold water was there cool his right hand that still tingled from the electric shock. Frisk stared at it for a while and turned off the water.

He looked into the mirror and noticed something odd. More of his face was appearing in the mirror than before. Frisk was confused for a few seconds until he realized his feet weren't touching the floor and there were bony hands under his armpits.

"Enjoying the view, kid?" Sans asked.

Frisk yelped in surprise while Sans let him down on the floor. Sans chuckled to himself.

"You alright there, kid?" Sans asked. "You took a forever to notice I was even here. I brought you the stuff Papyrus got for you yesterday."

"Oh, yeah," Frisk said. "Thanks."

Sans put the bags on his arms down on the floor. He noticed that Frisk's right hand was twitching a little. Perhaps he had set the voltage a bit too high after all.

"What's wrong with your hand?" Sans asked.

"The window shocked me," Frisk said. "You must have left your buzzer on it or something."

"It's a bit more elaborate than that, but I thought it made a nice joke," Sans said. "I guess I went a bit too far with the voltage. Sorry about that, kiddo. I'll get Papyrus to heal you when he wakes up."

"Thanks," Frisk said walking over to the shower and turning on the water.

"I'll undo the shocking window eventually, but until then, don't touch the window. Okay? I honestly don't think you should be fooling with it anyway. Your mental state is not 100% if you know what I mean. You still could get ideas…"

"I understand."

"Glad we see eye to eye. See ya soon, kid."

Sans shortcut away, and Frisk was left alone again. He pulled all Papyrus had bought him out of the bag and put it in the shower. Then he took off his clothes and entered the shower himself.

Frisk looked down and sighed while letting the water run down his back. He knew Sans wanted to take care of him, but he wasn't feeling great about his methods. He didn't quite like his brother's methods either, but Sans was supposed to be more laid back. They were getting along so well, too. Oh, well. At least, Sans was willing to let him be by himself, but he couldn't live like this forever.

"What am I supposed to be learning from this?" Frisk asked while looking at the ceiling. "That to love someone you have to be crazy?"

Frisk started washing his hair and let himself feel the hot water. It felt wonderful. He could not remember the last time he had showered.

When he wandered the city, Frisk would usually sneak into a gym to use their showers. Looking too dirty was a good way to get noticed, and the last thing Frisk ever wanted out there was to be noticed by the wrong people.

Since he had entered the Underground, Frisk had had few opportunities to shower. It was a good feeling to be getting clean again. It was a return to normalcy after the insanity that his life had become.

Frisk leaned his head back and rinsed all the shampoo off, but when he ran his fingers through his hair to check, there was another glob of shampoo in his hair. Frisk thought nothing of it and rinsed it out, but when he ran his fingers through his hair again, there was another large glob of shampoo in his hair.

"What the heck?" Frisk asked out loud.

He rinsed his hair as thoroughly as he possibly could and made sure there wasn't any shampoo in it before he moved his hands away.

"There," Frisk said in contentment.

But before he could even grab his other soap, he felt the cool liquid soap running through his hair again.

"What?!" Frisk said.

He then heard laughing from the top of the shower curtain. He looked up to see Sans sitting on top holding the bottle of shampoo.

"Oh, man," Sans said barely able to get a word out since he was laughing so hard. "You should see your face. It's priceless."

"Sans!" Frisk said shyly holding a curtain over his crotch.

"Come on, kid. You're part of the family and our friend now. You can put up with some practical jokes. Besides, you know that was funny. I see you smiling."

Frisk could not suppress a smile.

"I guess," he said.

"Anyway, get that crud out of your hair and focus on getting it off the rest of your body," Sans said. "Breakfast shouldn't take too much longer."

Sans then teleported away, but he immediately came back, handed the shampoo bottle to Frisk through the curtain, and said, "Don't forget to brush your teeth either. Your clothes are on top of the dryer by the way."

When Sans disappeared again, Frisk smiled, put the shampoo down, let go of the curtain, and laughed to himself.

"I guess he's not so bad after all," Frisk said as he rinsed the soap out of his hair, grabbed the bar of soap, and got to work washing the dirt and dried blood off the rest of his body.


	14. Chapter 14

Frisk finished his shower and turned off the water. He dried himself off and wrapped a towel around his waist.

After he brushed his teeth, he tried looking in the mirror, so he could comb his hair. But since he was too short, he decided to climb onto the dryer to use that mirror instead. Frisk put the comb in his mouth, climbed on the toilet, climbed on the sink, and used that to jump onto the dryer.

When he reached the dryer, he saw the clothes Papyrus found him in. They were all folded into a pile. The key that he still carried around his neck was sitting there on the top.

Frisk took the comb out of his mouth and smiled as he picked up the key. Even after being away from home for three years, he could not bring himself to ever throw it away. He put it back around his neck where it belonged.

Frisk then put on his underwear and his jeans. After that, he sat down with his legs crossed and started combing his hair. When he was done, he noticed a pair of scissors sitting on the washing machine. Frisk crawled over, picked them up, and stared at his hair in the mirror.

Meanwhile, Papyrus left his room and ran to Sans' room and then ran downstairs to the kitchen where Sans was finishing the eggs and bacon while Undyne was still lying on the couch.

"Morning, Papyrus," Sans said.

"Morning, Sans," Papyrus said. "Have you seen my scissors?"

"Stop yelling, Papyrus!" Undyne said turning over on the couch and pulling the blanket Papyrus loaned her over her head along with the pillow.

"No," Sans said. "Why do you need scissors?"

"I'm trying to make a get-well card for Frisk," Papyrus said. "And I need scissors to make it."

"You can check in here, bro," Sans said putting the food on their table. "But I haven't seen them."

"I'll assist you!" Undyne said standing up and throwing the blanket off the couch.

"Whatever," Sans said rolling his eyes. "But you're cleaning up any mess you make."

Undyne dizzily ran into the kitchen and threw open all the drawers so hard that some of them hit the wall while Sans ducked to avoid the other ones. Her hangover meant her aim was off. Sans stared in dumbfounded awe, and Papyrus ran around and looked in the drawers on the floor.

"Undyne, I'm not seeing any scissors!" Papyrus said.

"That's no good!" Undyne said wrapping the blanket around her body and opening the front door. "I'm going to the store!"

She then ran out in a crooked line while narrowly avoiding everyone in she came across.

"I should go with her," Papyrus said starting to follow her. "Wait, I remember where they are now. They're in the upstairs bathroom. Wait, Undyne! Come back!"

Papyrus went out the front door and chased after Undyne. Sans expression changed in concern, and he short cut upstairs and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Hey, kid!" Sans said. "Are you alright in there?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Frisk said. "I'll be out in a minute."

"Well, Undyne's gone…Sans, what are you doing?" Papyrus said walking back into the house and shutting the door behind him.

"Papyrus," Sans said as calmly as he could. "Frisk is in the bathroom where the scissors are."

"So?" Papyrus said walking up the stairs.

"Papyrus, you remember what happened yesterday. He's now alone with a sharp object…"

"Oh, my God!" Papyrus said rushing past Sans and opening the secret door. "We're coming in, Frisk! Please stop whatever you're doing."

"Papyrus, wait…" Sans said.

They opened the door to see Frisk sitting in front of the mirror wearing a towel around his shoulders and trimming his hair.

"What?" Frisk said glancing at them before going back to what he was doing. "All I'm doing is cutting my hair."

"Oh," Papyrus said looking awkwardly at Sans and then back at Frisk. "You have hair and you're cutting it? Why would you do that?"

"It's getting too long," Frisk said turning his head over as he struggled to reach the hair in the back. "People think I'm a girl when it gets too long…"

Sans short cut on top of the dryer and gestured for the scissors.

"Frisk, let me help," Sans said.

"I've done it myself a ton of times before," Frisk said. "I can handle it…"

"But do you want it to look good or like crap? I know ya don't have eyes on the back of your head as determined as you are."

"You don't have hair. How would you know how to cut it?"

"You underestimate how smart I am. Come on. Hand them over."

Frisk reluctantly handed the scissors over, and Sans started trimming the back of his hair. Papyrus watched curiously.

"It barely looks any different," he said. "Do you ever do anything different with it?"

"My parents kept it shorter when I was younger, but when I ran away, I let it grow out to this length because that's how my Dad used to do it," Frisk said with a smile.

"Oh," Papyrus said. "Did your Mom wear her hair like that, too?"

"No," Frisk said gesturing with his hands. "Her hair was really long. It went all the way down her back. It was beautiful."

"What were their names?"

"My Mom's name was Necese. My Dad's name was Franc."

"Hey! That's kind of like your name. Isn't it? They begin the same."

"Yeah, my Dad's family had a weird tradition where all the first-born children had a name that started with FR. My grandfather's name was Freud. His dad's name was Fritz and so on."

"Huh, that's an interesting tradition."

Frisk smiled and said, "My Dad said he used up all the FR names before getting to me…"

"What do you mean?" Papyrus said. "I thought you said you didn't have siblings."

"None that are alive. They all went to heaven before they were born. There's a medical word for what happened. My Mom told me, but I can't remember what it is…"

"Miscarriage," Sans said. "Your Mom had miscarriages. That means the babies all died in the womb."

"Yeah, that's the word," Frisk said. "She said that 6 of my siblings died before she had me…"

"Oh, my God," Papyrus said. "That's a lot of babies. How did you not die?"

"My parents were determined," Frisk said. "They didn't give up even when the doctors told them to. They just prayed and kept going and eventually they had me, and I made it even though I was born early. There's a word for that, too…"

"Premature," Sans said. "You were born before it was time to be born. Babies that are born early have many health problems and have to stay in a hospital until they're well enough to leave. Some don't make it."

"Yeah, that's it," Frisk said. "My parents said I got out of the hospital faster than most premature babies did because I was so determined to stay alive. They always called me their miracle baby."

"Wow, Frisk," Papyrus said. "You're more amazing than I thought."

"Gives you another reason to stay alive," Sans said finishing the haircut. "Doesn't it?"

"What?" Frisk asked.

"Your parents went through a lot to have you," Sans said removing the towel and sweeping all the hair into the garbage can with his magic. "You also fought through a lot to make it to this point. The Almighty did something awesome when he made you. I say it's even more reason to stay."

"I guess you're right," Frisk said with a small smile.

"You guess?" Papyrus asked while Sans short cut to the sink and washed all the leftover hair off his hands. "You've got your family line…no…our family line to continue. Isn't that a reason to stay alive?"

"You're right," Frisk said. "I guess it is."

Just then, his HP went up by another point. Papyrus smiled, and his eyes froze in happiness.

"Papyrus?" Frisk asked while picking up his white t-shirt that said "I Love Ebott City" on the front. "Papyrus? Sans, I think he's broken."

"Give him a second, Frisk," Sans said turning off the water and drying his hands off with a towel. "He gets like this when he's excited."

"Okay…" Frisk said before Papyrus threw him up in the air causing him to drop his shirt.

"YOU'RE GETTING BETTER, FRISK!" Papyrus yelled. "I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! YESTERDAY, YOUR HP WAS ONLY AT 1, BUT IT HAS RISEN SO MUCH ALREADY! I NEVER DOUBTED YOU WOULD MAKE IT! I NEVER DOUBTED IT FOR A SECOND!"

Frisk could only smile in response.

"Now, let's get food to celebrate!" Papyrus yelled before putting Frisk on his shoulders and running downstairs.

"Wait, Papyrus!" Sans heard Frisk yell from the stairs. "I'm not wearing a shirt!"

"You can't eat without wearing a shirt?" he heard Papyrus respond.

"Well, I can, but it feels awkward…"

"Why?"

"It just does!"

"You don't look that bad without one. Wait, what are those things on your chest? They look squishy!"

"Oh, my God! Don't stare at my nipples!"

"What do they do? Can I touch them?"

"NO!"

Sans laughed to himself and picked Frisk's t-shirt off the ground. He looked at himself in the mirror in satisfaction.

"I'm going to enjoy this much more than I thought," Sans said before short cutting downstairs.


	15. Chapter 15

Sans short cut downstairs to see Papyrus chasing Frisk around the couch.

"Come on, Frisk," Papyrus said. "What are you freaking out about? Just one touch."

"No!" Frisk yelled finally managing to climb on the outside of the staircase holding onto the railing as he feet climbed up the steps quickly. "I told you. I want my shirt."

"Frisk!" Papyrus yelled. "Get down from there! You could fall!"

"Papyrus, stop trying to touch people without their consent," Sans said. "God, that sounded so wrong. Frisk, get down from there before you break your neck. I got your shirt."

By that time, Frisk had made it up the stairs and was standing precariously on the other side of the railing in front of Sans' room.

"Alright," Frisk said climbing on top of the railing so that he was sitting on top of it with his legs hanging off the side.

"We'll be eating," Sans said walking into the kitchen.

"Are you sure you don't need help, Frisk?" Papyrus asked.

"I've passed obstacles more difficult than this," Frisk said. "I'll be fine."

"Whatever," Papyrus responded before following Sans.

Frisk moved his legs so that they could land on the floor instead of hanging off the railing, but that was when he got his idea. He rolled up the legs of his pants and held onto the railing with his hands. Then using his hands for support, he stood up on the railing. Frisk smiled. Success.

Next, Frisk slowly walked forward on the railing placing one foot in front of the other. He smiled again. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, that's when Frisk started feeling dizzy. His head felt very light, and the room started spinning. That was when he lost his footing. The next thing he knew he was falling head over heels over the railing towards the television below.

Thankfully before Frisk landed on top of the television, Sans caught him by his soul from his spot at the table.

"I told ya not to climb up there, kid," Sans said setting him on his feet. "You could have broken your neck."

Frisk tried standing up, but the light-headedness was still there. He staggered toward the couch and collapsed on top of it.

"Frisk?" Sans asked. "Frisk, are you alright?"

"What's the matter with Frisk?" Papyrus asked getting up from his spot on the table and seeing Frisk lying on the couch. "Frisk?"

Papyrus ran over to the couch, picked Frisk up, and carried him to the kitchen where he sat him down where he was sitting.

"I don't know what happened," Frisk muttered as he laid his on top of his folded arms on the table. "I just started feeling so weak and dizzy."

"You're probably just hungry. Here, you can have my plate," Papyrus said adding more to the already full plate of food sitting in front of Frisk. "Oh, I forgot the orange juice."

Papyrus ran over to the fridge and carried out a large jug of orange juice out for Frisk.

He dropped it on the table in front of Frisk and said, "You have to drink the rest of this!"

"What's the matter with me?" Frisk said still lying on his arms and staring blankly ahead. "Why am I so weak?"

"Look at your torso, kiddo," Sans said.

Frisk did what he instructed and saw the outline of his ribs and all the self-inflicted stabbing wounds.

"You lost a lot of blood in your ritual yesterday," Sans said. "Papyrus healed you, but it's still gonna take your body a while to recover from that, especially since you've done it a lot. The condition is called anemia, but don't worry too much about it. Some food will help ya start feeling better."

"Thanks," Frisk said sitting up and grabbing a fork to start eating with. "I am so hungry."

"You should be," Sans said. "You haven't eaten in about 24 hours, and I'm willing to bet it's been much longer than that since you've had a decent meal. Hasn't it?"

Frisk froze for a moment with his mouth full and looked at Sans.

"You shared all your memories with us," Sans said. "Remember? Besides, I can see all your ribs. You're very underweight."

Frisk swallowed the eggs that were in his mouth and thought hard while staring at his plate of food trying to remember the last time he had eaten well.

"You're right. When you found me, I hadn't eaten anything that day or the day before either," Frisk said. "I don't remember when the last time I ate was."

"Frisk, how could you start neglecting your needs that badly?!" Papyrus said sitting in his chair with a look of concern.

"It's not like I did it on purpose, Papyrus. I can't explain it that well. I was just focused on fixing my mistakes that sometimes I forgot about it. I wasn't thinking about anything else."

"I just don't understand how anyone could forget about eating. Eating is like one of the best things ever."

"Not eating is common in people with depression," Sans said crumpling up the t-shirt in a ball and tossing it at Frisk's head. "Here, cover up your body."

When Frisk looked up, he was suddenly blinded by the t-shirt that Sans had thrown on his head.

"Sans, don't throw things at the table!" Papyrus said while Frisk pulled the old t-shirt on.

"I had to get it back to him somehow," Sans replied. "He was the one making a fuss about not having it."

"Why couldn't you just hand it to him like a normal person?"

"Come on, bro. Where's your funny bone?"

Papyrus facepalmed and said, "Unbelievable."

"Hey, kid," Sans said while Papyrus sulked, and Frisk went back to eating his food. "Just so you know, what I said yesterday still stands. Eventually, we will let you leave to explore the rest of the Underground as long as you come back, but until then, you're not allowed to leave until we think you're better, in your mind and in your body. We're gonna be watching you more closely now too, due to your violent self-harming tendencies. You're not allowed to be left by yourself until I think you're well enough either. Is that alright?"

Frisk swallowed his food, took a drink from his jug of orange juice, and wiped his face his sleeve.

"No, Frisk," Papyrus fussed while he got up and walked to the counter. "Don't wipe your face on your sleeve. Let me get you a napkin. I know you were a street kid but honestly…"

"Well, kid?" Sans asked.

Frisk looked up, took a deep breath, and said, "Yesterday, all I wanted to do was die. Since my failed reset, I don't really want to kill myself anymore, but I don't think I completely have a reason to keep going either, and honestly, I'm tired of wandering and being on my own. I'm not supposed to do that anymore. He said so last night. He also told me to learn how to receive mercy, so I can give it to others. I'm not sure exactly how to do that yet. I don't know what I'm doing, but somehow, I feel like staying here and learning from my two new adopted brothers is the right thing to do. I feel happier already. I haven't had a family or friends in such a long time…"

Frisk was interrupted when Papyrus started wiping his face with a napkin.

"Frisk, you are adopted now," Papyrus said. "You will never be alone again."

"He's right, kid," Sans said. "You don't ever have to think you're on your own again. You've got us now. Got it?"

When Papyrus finally stopped wiping his face, Frisk smiled and said, "Got it."

He felt his heart grow warmer with love and determination. His HP went up another point.


	16. Chapter 16

Frisk and his new brothers continued to eat their food. Papyrus dominated most of the conversation as usual, but no one cared.

"Frisk, what do you want to name your children?" Papyrus asked out of nowhere.

"Woah, Pap," Sans said in amusement. "It's a bit soon to think of that now. Isn't it? He's 10."

"I know, but I'm curious. Frisk, do you think you'll continue the tradition of giving your firstborn an FR name?"

Frisk, after thinking for a moment, said, "I haven't really thought about it, but probably. I know it would make my Dad happy."

"Oooh, what will you name your kid if he's a boy?" Papyrus asked in between bites.

Frisk replied, "I don't know. How about Franz? I've always thought it was a cool-sounding name and it rhymes with Sans."

"I like it," Sans said obviously feeling very flattered.

"A cool name for a cool guy."

"Wait a minute!" Papyrus yelled. "You'll name your firstborn after Sans but not after me?"

"Well, there aren't any FR names that rhyme with Papyrus…" Frisk began.

"I'm the firstborn brother, bro," Sans interrupted with a smile. "I get dibs."

"That is so unfair," Papyrus said. "Couldn't you invent a new name, Frisk? How about if your kid is a girl you name her Frapyrus?!"

"That isn't a real name, Papyrus," Frisk said.

"He's got a point, Pap," Sans said.

"I know," Papyrus said after thinking for a moment. "How about you choose a name that sounds close to my name? Are there any names like that on the surface?"

Frisk chugged down some more orange juice while he thought about it, but not many options were coming to mind.

"Well, I could name her Frappe," Frisk said. "But that's the word for the fancy iced coffee they sell at…"

"That name is perfect," Papyrus said. "I absolutely love it! She will be the coolest girl to ever walk the earth!"

"But, Papyrus…" Frisk started to complain.

"It's best to let it go, kid," Sans said.

Papyrus was bouncing up and down in giddiness just think about his future niece.

"Hey," Frisk said. "Speaking of girls, where did Undyne go? Did she go home?"

Papyrus froze for a moment and then he said, "Oh, crap…. Oh, no! I can't believe we forgot. She's been gone for over an hour! We have to find her! Now!"

"What?" Frisk asked. "When did Undyne leave?"

"Undyne left while you were in the bathroom to look for the scissors you were using," Sans said getting up and taking plates to the sink while Papyrus went into the other room to call Undyne on her cell phone. "She was still very out of it. She didn't even put her jacket on when she left. She just carried out the blanket she slept under."

"Oh, well, I can help," Frisk said.

"I'm happy to hear that," Papyrus said snatching him up, carrying him on his back, and carefully avoiding all the drawers that were still on the floor as he quickly walked to the door. "Undyne isn't answering her phone. We need to find her now! She wasn't feeling well last night and I know for a fact that she's still upset. Let's go!"

Papyrus threw open the door and ran out with Frisk on his back.

"Wait, Papyrus! I don't have a coat or shoes on! IT'S REALLY COLD! PAPYRUS?! PAPYRUS!" Sans heard Frisk yell while Papyrus bolted farther and farther away.

Sans sighed deeply. Then he short cut upstairs to grab Frisk's sweater and shoes and a clean pair of socks, shut their front door, and short cut outside to join them.


	17. Chapter 17

"Papyrus, can we please go back to the house?!" Frisk asked desperately while Papyrus kept running to the grocery store. "Come on! I just decided I didn't want to die anymore! I don't want to freeze to death again!"

"We're almost there, Frisk!" Papyrus yelled over the freezing winds. "We can't stop now! We'll go back by the house if Undyne's not there!"

"But they won't let me in if I don't have shoes on!"

"That's fine! I'll just keep carrying you! It's a great workout anyway! Weee!"

Papyrus long-jumped over the same logs again and soon enough they were at the store. He walked through the automatic stores while still carrying Frisk, who was shivering violently, on his back. Surprisingly enough, Sans was there waiting on a bench with Frisk's clothes by the newspapers.

"Sans?" Papyrus asked. "Did you come to help, too?"

"I mostly came to help the kid," Sans said. "He looks like he's cold, but I suppose I can help. I have nothing better to do anyway."

Frisk looked at him gratefully while Papyrus said, "That's great, Sans. That saves me the trouble of taking him back to the house. Thanks! Frisk, you put more clothes on. I'll check the store for Undyne."

Papyrus allowed Frisk to slide off his back, and he took off running through the stores.

"Sans, I owe you one," Frisk said quickly pulling on the socks and shoes over his freezing feet. "Thanks!"

"No problem, kid," Sans said while searching for something in his pocket. "We've had to thaw you out two days in a row. I figured you didn't feel like going three for three."

"Definitely not," Frisk said as he finished tying his shoes and reached for his sweater. "I've had enough of being frozen."

"Hey, Frisk," Sans said. "Before you pull your sweater on, I was wondering if you wanted me to do something about those arms."

"What do you mean?" Frisk asked sitting back up.

Sans pulled out a few rolls of bandages and said, "Almost nobody else knows why those scars are there. They'll think they're there for another reason. They might start asking questions…Frisk?"

Sans followed Frisk's eyes and saw that Frisk was looking ahead at a few monsters staring in his direction looking specifically at his arms in concern mixed with horror. They whispered loudly to each other even though he was looking right at them. Frisk crossed his arms and looked down in shame and confusion.

"Why are they staring at me like that, Sans?" Frisk asked.

"Hey," Sans said to the women. "You mind doing that somewhere else? My younger brother and I can hear every word your saying. It's embarrassing."

The three women quickly filed out of the store with their grocery bags.

"Why were they whispering about me?" Frisk asked once they had gone.

Sans sighed and said, "I was afraid this would happen. Usually when monsters show up with their arms scarred up that badly, it's because they did it to themselves. People do that sometimes when they're unhappy because somehow it makes them feel better. It's a serious sign of mental illness."

Frisk looked away with an embarrassed expression on his face.

"That's not the whole reason your scars are there. But I figure that's something you don't want to have to explain to someone every time you meet them, and you don't want to wear that sweater forever, so for now, I figured that we could keep the scars covered up so that we can keep that to ourselves," Sans said. "But only if you want to."

"I'll do it," Frisk said taking a roll of bandages and starting to unroll it. "I don't want them to stare at me and think I'm crazy like Toriel did."

"Allow me, kid," Sans said. "Roll up your sleeves."

Frisk obeyed, and Sans began wrapping his right arm.

"So, that's why you left Toriel," Sans said.

"Yeah, she thought I was crazy," Frisk said. "Undyne did, too. That's why she felt sorry enough to let Papyrus keep me. I can't stand it when people look at me like that. When they look at you like that, bad things happen."

Sans taped down one end and teleported to the other arm.

"What do you mean?" Sans asked as he started wrapping up the other arm.

"It happened when I lived on the streets," Frisk said. "There would be kids who would be slightly off. You couldn't always explain it, but you could always tell. Sometimes, they'd be nice and kind but just a little slow. Other times, they'd be loud and mean and say all kinds of crazy things. That was when the police or other grown-ups would look at them funny like those ladies looked at me. Whenever that happened, those kids would disappear. I never saw it happen. I only heard the other kids talk about it. They said that men would show up in a white truck that was padded inside. They'd throw them in there or put them in strait-jackets, and you'd almost never see them again."

"Really?" Sans asked finishing up that arm, too.

Frisk moved his arms around. They were snugly wrapped but loose enough so they did not cut off his blood circulation.

"Yeah, you'd only see a few of these kids get let out or manage to escape," Frisk said. "They said they were sent to horrible places called asylums that were full of crazy people. You have to take meds that mess with your brain and be watched at all times like some sort of prisoner. You sit around while people force you to talk about your problems or you watch boring TV shows all day and eat crappy food. That's it. You have to do whatever the doctor says, and if you don't, you get thrown in a padded room with a strait-jacket for hours. Then if you're really bad, they inject tons of crazy drugs in you that make you do nothing but stare at walls all day."

Frisk's face scrunched together in disgust while he put on his sweater. Sans just sat there and listened.

"I'd rather die than be in one of those places," Frisk said. "I can't imagine being locked up somewhere because people think I'm crazy. I don't like it when they stare at me like that either. It makes me feel like I'm weak and helpless. I can't stand that."

"Neither can I, kid," Sans said.

The two sat in silence for the minute it took for Papyrus to run back.

"She's not here," Papyrus said sadly. "The store clerks asked her to leave for being loud and disturbing the peace or something like that. What do we do now?"

"Maybe she went back to Waterfell," Frisk said. "I mean she lives there, right?"

"That is a great idea," Papyrus said picking Frisk up and carrying him on his back again. "Let's go!"

"Wait," Sans said taking off his coat before Papyrus could take off running. "Put this on, Frisk, so you don't get cold when he's running."

"Are you sure?" Papyrus asked.

"Yeah, monsters don't get cold as easily as humans do," Sans said. "I'll be fine. I insist."

"Okay," Frisk replied with a smile. "Thanks."

Papyrus allowed Frisk to slide off his back so he could put on the coat. Once he did, Papyrus lifted him onto his back again.

"Thanks, Sans," Frisk said. "Thanks for the arm warmers, too."

"No problem, kiddo," Sans said. "I'll see you both in Waterfell."

"So we shall," Papyrus said with his eyes burning in determination before he took off. "Don't worry, Undyne! I'm coming!"

Sans smiled while he watched them disappear. His HP raised by another point before he short cut to Waterfell. He and Frisk had much more in common than he thought.


	18. Chapter 18

Frisk enjoyed riding on Papyrus' back much more now that he was dressed for the cold. As Papyrus kept sprinting through Snowdin on their way to Waterfall, Frisk finally felt comfortable enough to look around. The snow-covered houses and Snowdin citizens all whisked by as if he were looking at them from a bus. It made him smile.

"Frisk, do you see Undyne anywhere?" Papyrus asked.

"No," Frisk replied honestly.

"Well, keep looking. We have to help her. She's not very happy right now."

Frisk's demeanor fell. The revelations hit Undyne harder than they had Sans or Papyrus. They were the reasons she was unhappy, and Frisk didn't know how he was going to make it better.

"I hope you have ideas up there," Frisk whispered to Him. "We could really use them."

The constant rocking motion of Papyrus' back as he ran was relaxing. Frisk's eyes slid shut and he dozed off for the few minutes it took to reach Waterfall.

Papyrus entered Waterfall and stopped sprinting to look around unaware that his passenger had fallen asleep. He looked around among the grass and the flowers but saw no sign of Undyne anywhere.

Papyrus only paused when he was at the waterfall where Frisk had found the tutu in the other timelines. He had passed this spot many times before, but knowing what he knew now, he felt disturbed.

Papyrus stepped into the water and paused at the spot in front of where the cavern behind the waterfall was, the spot where a human had died, possibly at Undyne's hands or at the hands of another royal guard.

Papyrus felt guilty. He had never considered what that human must have felt when they were caught and killed or how Frisk felt whenever he encountered an enemy.

"Frisk..." Papyrus whispered. "I'm so sorry. Every single time, you must have been so scared…just like they were. Frisk?"

"He's asleep, bro," Sans said from the shore on his right. "He can't hear you. I guess Undyne's pill hasn't completely left his system yet."

Papyrus turned his head and saw Sans standing in front of him on the path before him with his hands in his pockets.

Papyrus looked back at the sleeping child on his back for a moment and said, "Why did they kill that girl, Sans? Why did the Royal Guard kill humans who were as young and helpless as him? How could they?"

Sans sighed knowing why his brother was saying this.

"People are willing to do bad things when they're desperate, Papyrus," Sans replied. "Human souls are powerful. King Asgore wants to use them to break down the barrier…"

"I won't be like them, Sans," Papyrus said resolutely. "I won't let King Asgore hurt him. I would rather stay down here forever. I will be a good royal guard. I won't let anyone else hurt Frisk like they hurt those other kids either."

Sans didn't respond. There was no sound for a minute except the sound of the rushing water.

"We should find your boss," Sans finally said.

"You're right," Papyrus said snapping back into action. "I almost forgot! We have to find Undyne! I should wake Frisk up."

"Not here…" Sans said.

"Why not? Here's as good a place as any. Besides, he can get some water if you know what I mean…" Papyrus said while he lifted Frisk over his shoulders and prepared to drop him in the water.

But suddenly, Sans picked Frisk up telekinetically and pulled him away from his brother.

"This place holds bad memories for him, Pap!" Sans said in a more serious, authoritative tone that Papyrus was not used to hearing. "Frisk doesn't need to relive them!"

Sans started walking away with Frisk while Papyrus stood in the water in confusion.

"Sans?" Papyrus asked in confusion. "What's…?"

"Expert tip since you're new at this," Sans said pausing in place and turning around to look back at Papyrus. "When you become a big brother, you also become his shield. You have to stand between him and anything that might hurt him. You bear that pain on yourself, so he doesn't have to feel it. Frisk hasn't had that kind of protection in a long time. If we want to be his big brothers, we have to do that for him now. Understood?"

"Why are you guys fighting?" Frisk said barely opening his eyes.

"We're not fighting, kiddo," Sans said quickly changing his demeanor and walking up the path away from the waterfall. "We just had a minor disagreement. That's all. You fell asleep on the way here, and Papyrus wanted to dunk you in water to wake you up. I wouldn't let him."

"Thanks," Frisk said with a yawn. "I don't know why I fell asleep. I guess Papyrus' back was too comfortable."

"You still have Undyne's drugs from yesterday in your system making you tired. I can take you home if ya want."

"Nah, I wanna help find Undyne. I'm awake now. I'll be fine. Just put me down."

"Whatever."

Frisk groggily took of Sans' coat, handed it back to him and said, "I'm done wearing it, thanks."

"Don't mention it, kiddo."

As Frisk walked ahead, Papyrus stared at Sans like he was a whole other person.

"Pap, are you coming?" Sans asked breaking Papyrus' train of thought.

"Yes! Of course! Nyeh heh heh!" Papyrus yelled enthusiastically sprinting to catch up with them as quickly as he could.


	19. Chapter 19

The trio walked through Waterfall searching for Undyne.

Frisk walked slowly as he started enjoying his surroundings for the first time in forever. The lights on the cave's ceiling, the echo flowers, and the water warmed his heart.

"Enjoying the view, kid?" Sans asked.

"Yeah," Frisk said. "I've always liked this place. It's beautiful in here."

"Where could Undyne be?" Papyrus asked.

"Why don't we check at her house, Papyrus?" Frisk suggested.

"That would be too obvious for someone as cunning as Undyne," Papyrus replied.

"Where else would she go, Pap?" Sans asked.

Papyrus froze for a second and said, "I…don't know."

"Maybe we should spread out, so we can look in multiple places," Frisk said.

"Quiet, I have to think," Papyrus said. "Where could she be?"

"You know her the best out of all of us, Pap," Sans said. "What would Undyne do?"

"Her house is literally right there," Frisk said. "We should just go ahead and…"

"Hush…." Papyrus said. "Let me think…"

Frisk rolled his eyes and started walking ahead without them. He pulled off his sweater, tied it around his waist, and walked towards Undyne's house which was only maybe 100 meters away.

Unfortunately, he didn't get 100 meters before an enemy approached him. It was Aaron, the horse merman.

"I'm ready for a battle, human," Aaron said. "But it looks like you've endured one already."

Frisk froze in place. He had been hoping this wouldn't happen anymore. He wasn't ready for another battle. Frisk couldn't risk it. He tried running past him as he did all the other enemies in the Ruins and Snowdin, but Aaron only moved into his path.

"It's your move, human," Aaron said with a smug smile.

"Please, go away," Frisk begged. "I don't want to fight you."

"Wow! Spunky! Love it. Whew. I'm sweating!"

Aaron flexed his muscles and his sweat flew straight towards him. Frisk dodged as well as he could to avoid the sweat, but one managed to burn his shoulder knocking his HP down by one.

"Your move, human," Aaron said flexing and waiting.

"What do I do?" Frisk prayed.

"Interact with him without actually fighting," Frisk heard Him say.

"How?" Frisk asked aloud.

"Your move, human," Aaron repeated while he flexed.

Not knowing what else to do, Frisk started flexing, too.

"Flexing contest? Okay, flex more," Aaron said with a creepy smile.

Frisk flexed back.

Aaron flexed again, and muscular arms flexed out of nowhere to attack Frisk who once again had to dodge as best he could.

Even though he was knocked down and lost another point, Frisk stood up and simply flexed back.

"You're determined, kid," Aaron said.

"FRISK!" Frisk heard Papyrus' yell at the top of his lungs.

Frisk then felt himself being pulled backwards until he felt his back slam into a bony arm that wrapped around him and held him against his side.

Frisk looked up and saw Sans say, "Crawl back into the river you came from, creep. The kid's with us."

"I see when I'm not wanted," Aaron said turning away with a wink. "We'll resume our contest another time then, child. Ahhhhh!"

Suddenly, bones flew in all directions towards Aaron. Aaron dodged just in time and hopped off as fast as he could.

"Get back here, monster!" Papyrus yelled while taking off after him. "Come and pay for your crime!"

As soon as Aaron was out of his sight, Sans let go of Frisk and said, "You alright, Frisk?"

"I lost a few HP, but Sans, I discovered I can interact with enemies without fighting," Frisk said excitedly. "He told me so."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah, I don't have to fight them. Wearing them down until I can spare them is not the only way to defeat them! I never saw that before. I mean, I did that with Napstablook, but since he's not mean, I thought it would only work with him. It might not. I can do other things to get the monsters' attention. I don't have to fight at all. If you guys didn't come, Aaron may have just given up eventually or…"

Sans waved his hand to show Frisk's stats and said severely, "Or he would have killed you before he got to that point. I told you not to wander off by yourself, kid. It's too risky for you right now. I know you could handle it before but look at how low your stats are. Hell, we don't even know if your determination has recovered enough to create a save for you to go back to if you died. One strong hit from a stronger monster could end you. You ain't doing that again until you're better. Got it?"

"But Sans…"

"Got it?"

Frisk sighed and said, "Got it."

"Good," Sans said putting his arm around him and walking forward again. "Let's find Papyrus and get him to heal ya. Try to fight a monster by yourself again and I'm taking you home."

"Got it," Frisk said.

"As for the whole 'finding other ways to interact with monsters' thing," Sans said making Frisk perk up in response. "I think you're onto something there. You should try it. It sounds like promising advice."

Frisk smiled and felt his HP go up by another point. Then, he felt Papyrus' two gloved hands on his shoulders healing his wounds by the two other points he lost. Once he was healed, Papyrus picked Frisk up and turned him around, so they were looking in each other's eyes.

"I don't know how to feel!" Papyrus complained. "I'm happy your HP has risen, but I'm mad at you for running away. What were you thinking?!"

"I'm sorry," Frisk said. "You weren't listening to me, so I went off to look for Undyne at her house by myself."

"Why?"

"You were getting on my nerves…"

"That's no excuse! You shouldn't have done that! You could have died!"

"I know! Come on, Papyrus! Sans already yelled at me…"

"Well, I'm yelling at you too, because I'm your big brother and I care! Why didn't you ask for help when the monster was attacking?!"

Frisk paused for a moment and said, "I don't know. I didn't even think about it. I guess I'm not used to having anyone to call for help."

"Well, from now on, you have to call for help!" Papyrus yelled. "We're your shields. It's our job to protect you now! You don't have to endure it by yourself anymore! Got it?!"

Frisk smiled and said, "Got it."

"Good," Papyrus said putting Frisk on the ground. "Now, let's go to Undyne's house!"

"Finally," Frisk said walking ahead of them.

Sans froze feeling unexpectedly touched by his brother's words. Papyrus walked past him, turned to him, winked, and then kept walking.

Sans smiled and felt his own HP raise by another point before following them.


	20. Chapter 20

Frisk walked to Undyne's door and paused while Papyrus and Sans walked up behind him. He still didn't know what he was going to do. Undyne was still depressed and probably angry at him and would possibly try to murder him the moment he opened her door if she was there. He stood there for a moment just thinking.

"Are you scared, kid?" Sans asked.

"I can do it if you want me to…" Papyrus said.

All Frisk could do was say a quick prayer and take a deep breath as he knocked on the door. Oddly enough, the door swung open. They looked in and the lights were on, but no one was there. The trio entered the house and started looking around the kitchen.

"Undyne?" Papyrus asked. "Undyne? Are you here? Undyne?"

"Pap, look," Sans said.

Papyrus looked at him and saw the blanket from their house he was holding. It was lying on the ground in front of the door that led to the rest of Undyne's house. Papyrus walked over and opened that door.

Meanwhile, Frisk looked around the brightly-colored kitchen. It was different than what he imagined Undyne's house's interior to look like, especially considering its scary exterior.

His wandering eyes fell on the piano. Frisk smiled and forgot what he was doing for the moment while he sat down in front of it.

Tears came to his eyes as he remembered his parents. His father loved music and could play the piano. His mother did, too. She played every instrument. It was her who started teaching him how to play.

Frisk brought his fingers to the keys and started playing a reflective piece that he had practiced with his mother while Sans and Papyrus looked in the other room. It was a den where Undyne had a TV and a couch and along the back wall was a wall full of family photos of relatives who had died in the great war and in the ongoing struggle against humans. However, every single picture looked like it had been stabbed with a spear. The glass of each frame was cracked. Some of these pictures had fallen on the floor and had their glass shattered completely. Papyrus and Sans studied the scene in silence.

"It's worse than I thought, Sans," Papyrus said picking up one of the shattered frames off the floor.

"Pap, what did Undyne tell you before you went to sleep last night?" Sans asked.

Papyrus sighed and began telling Sans everything.

Meanwhile, Frisk finished as much of the music as he could remember and stopped playing. His face was wet with tears. When he played that piece, he felt like his mother was playing with him. Every key, every melody, felt like he was playing a duet. It was almost like he could feel her presence again, as he one knew he day would.

Frisk smiled and wiped the tears away from his eyes. His HP went up another point while he got off the bench in front of the piano to look for Sans and Papyrus.

Frisk noticed the door leading to the rest of the house was open, so he walked in, but no one was in there, except the broken pictures.

"Sans? Papyrus?" Frisk asked.

When he didn't get an answer, Frisk started walking towards a small hallway that led to the back bedroom and bathroom.

"YEAH!" he suddenly heard a familiar voice yell from outside. "THIS IS AMAZING!"

"Undyne?" Frisk asked as he ran back towards through the kitchen and towards the door. "Undyne, is that you?"

"KEEP IT COMING! DROWN MY SORROW!"

Frisk stopped at the front door. He looked back. He knew that Sans and Papyrus would not be happy if he ran off again since they didn't like him being by himself, but then again, if he found Undyne, he wouldn't be by himself…

"YEAH! THAT'S IT!"

Frisk knew he had to go, but he had to let them know where he went. His eyes fell on a pen and a notepad that were sitting on the counter next to the fridge, and he smiled. Frisk ran over, wrote his note, put it on the piano bench, and sprinted out the door.


	21. Chapter 21

"Undyne?!" Frisk called out. "Undyne?! Where are you?!"

"WHY HAVE I NEVER TRIED THIS BEFORE?!" her voice yelled out. "THIS IS AWESOME!"

It was not too far away. It sounded like it was coming from the direction of Napstablook's house. Frisk quickly ran on the path until he reached the houses, but when he arrived oddly enough, everything was silent.

"Undyne?" Frisk called out. "Undyne, I'm sorry about everything…"

Frisk's eyes fell on the house that was next to Napstablook's. He never knew what that house was for or who lived in it. Out of curiosity, he pulled a trashcan to the back of the house where a window was. After climbing on top of the garbage cans, he looked in the window, but all he saw was a TV and a bunch of books on the ground.

"That is my cousin's house," a familiar shaky voice said.

Frisk looked over his shoulders to see Napstablook hovering several feet away with headphones over his ears.

"He doesn't come by very much anymore," Napstablook said. "His career is very demanding."

There was an awkward silence until Napstablook said, "I haven't seen you in a few days. Did you hurt your arms?"

Frisk did not know what possessed him to say, "I kept cutting them, so I could reset time if I killed someone."

Frisk's face flushed with shame as he turned away. Why did he say something so stupid? Now Napstablook would hate him…

"I see," Napstablook said calmly and without judgement. "Would you like to come inside my pathetic house?"

Frisk turned around, smiled, and nodded. He jumped off the trashcan and followed Napstablook.

In most timelines, Napstablook was usually the only one he ever hung out with. He enjoyed lying on the floor and listening to his music. It reminded him very much of what he used to do with his Dad when they would share the earbuds of his mp3 player, lie on the floor together, and talk about whatever came to mind. In many respects, Napstablook reminded him of his Dad.

Napstablook opened the door, and to Frisk's surprise, Undyne was lying on the floor with Napstablook's headphones in. Her eyes were closed, and she was clearly enjoying the music.

Frisk looked at Napstablook in confusion and he said, "She came over about an hour ago. It was weird since we usually never talk. She said she needed someone to talk to and just started going on and on about weird stuff, kind of like what you just said, so I gave her music and she seems to like it. I've never seen anyone like my music as much as she does. Maybe I will put it on the Undernet."

"You should," Frisk said. "I love hearing your music. In every timeline, it's one of my favorite parts of exploring the Underground."

When she heard another voice in the room, Undyne opened her eye and saw Frisk. Their eyes met, and Frisk began walking over to her nervously.

"What are you doing here, punk?!" Undyne asked while pulling out her headphones.

"Um, uh, Sans and Papyrus and I were looking for you," Frisk began nervously. "We were at your house and I heard you, so I ran over here to find you. We've been worried."

Undyne remained silent as Frisk walked around her until he was standing next to her face where her good eye was.

"Um, Undyne, I can't say it any other way," he said standing still and running his fingers nervously over his bandages. "I'm sorry about what happened. I'm sorry I killed you the first time and let you die all those times and took so long to figure out how to save you. I understand if you, uh, hate me forever, but I was, um, hoping we could be friends."

Undyne kept staring at him with a stoic expression.

"Well, I guess I'll go back," Frisk said starting to walk away. "I left them a note, but they're probably still gonna be mad that I went away without them, so…"

Frisk paused and inhaled sharply when he felt Undyne's hand grab his right forearm. He looked at her and she pulled him down so that he was on his on his knees and hand practically on top of her.

"LIE ON THE FLOOR AND LISTEN TO THE MUSIC WITH ME, FRISK!" Undyne screamed in his face. "IT'LL BE GOOD FOR YOU!"

"Undyne?" Frisk asked.

"JUST DO IT!"

"o…kay…"

Frisk laid down on the ground next to Undyne. Instead of letting go of his right forearm, she handed him an ear bud with her free hand. Frisk put it in and listened to the music. She still didn't let go but slid her hand down until her smooth hand was holding his.

"Perhaps, I should go…" Napstablook said.

"Please don't leave me alone," Frisk pleaded.

"What was that, punk?" Undyne asked.

"Nothing," Frisk said quietly.

"I see," Napstablook replied. "I'll stay."

"Thank you," Frisk said quietly.

Napstablook floated over to the ground and laid on the floor on the other side of him.

For several minutes, it was very tense. Frisk felt his heartbeat grow faster and could not stop shaking. He barely listened to the music. It was too weird feeling Undyne's skin against his. Her hand was smooth and cool to the touch in contrast to the warm blood that produced sweat all over his palm.

"Undyne," Frisk said nervously turning his head towards hers. "Would you, uh, let go of my hand please?"

Undyne turned her head towards him and saw him flinch.

"You're afraid of me," Undyne said. "Aren't you, human child?"

"Uh…." Frisk said searching for the right words.

"That's ironic. In the other timelines, it was me who was afraid of you."

"You were afraid of me?"

"Every time," Undyne said looking back at the ceiling. "I was always afraid, but I learned to push past it. It never stops me. It never stopped anyone else in my family either. They all made the ultimate sacrifice to give monsters a chance to return to the surface and take our vengeance on the humans who ruined our lives…"

Frisk shook more violently and attempted to pull his hand out of Undyne's, but she gripped it more tightly to calm him down.

"But you know what I realized, Frisk?" Undyne asked turning to him with tears in her eyes this time. "The goal we were aiming towards, all the death, it was pointless."

Frisk stopped shaking and looked at her more intently now, more confused than he was afraid.

"And you want to know why?" Undyne asked. "Because at the end of the day, we were no better than you. You killed because you were trying to avenge your parents. I wanted to kill you to avenge my family and the misery monsters face down here. If I reached the surface, I would have done the same thing you tried to do. Then one of you would try to do the same thing to us, and eventually, everyone would be dead. It's pointless. All of it is. And even though I was strong enough to defeat any enemy, it wasn't enough. I fell to determination every single time. The purpose I have dedicated my life to…the time I sacrificed training…everything was done to accomplish something POINTLESS!"

Undyne finally let go of Frisk's hand to wipe the tears falling from her own eyes.

"Undyne, I'm so sorry," Frisk said sitting up. "I wish I could go back and change it…"

"You already have!" Undyne interrupted. "I counted the number of times you went back and the number of scars on your arms. You went back 40 times. 40! There's no point in even staying mad at you. What point is there to my life?! Do you know?! You were the one talking to Omniscience! What did he have to say?!"

"Um, well, He didn't say anything about you, but He told me to let go of my pride and let Him in, so He could teach me how to show mercy instead of ending my life. I know if you asked He would show you something, too. I think I've read in the ancient scriptures that it's not always audible or in dreams. He also talks in other ways, but never mind, the point is your life is not pointless, Undyne. We'll figure out something together. I know we will."

Instead of responding, Undyne sat up, picked Frisk up, and held him in a tight hug while she laid back down. Frisk cringed at being so close to her, but he let her hold him on top of her chest.

"You can go back if you want to, human," Undyne said. "I want to keep listening to music for a little while longer."

"I want to keep listening, too," Frisk said. "I've been so scared I haven't been listening to the music much…"

"But you have listened to it in every timeline," Nastablook interrupted. "Aren't you tired of it?"

"No," Frisk said. "I love it. It makes me happy. It reminds me when I used to lie on the floor with my Dad and listen to his mp3 player with him whenever we had a rough day. I've kept it since before he died, but it's in my backpack on top of the mountain. When…if we get out of here, I'm going back for it, so I can share the music with you guys. I hope it's okay. My backpack is waterproof, but I'm still scared something might happen to it. That's the only thing I want to go back for on the surface. I have nothing else up there. I'd hate to lose it. It's one of the last things I have left of my parents…"

"Don't worry, kid," Undyne said. "Worse comes to worse we can get it together. We can exit and come back no problem."

Frisk smiled and started sitting up, but Undyne pulled him back down, hugged him tighter, and said, "Hey! I didn't say you could get up yet, punk!"

Frisk smiled and let himself relax on top of her. It was an awkward position, but for Undyne, he could endure it. After all, this was what it was to show mercy. His HP went up another point as they both began to doze.


	22. Chapter 22

Meanwhile, back at Undyne's house, Papyrus had finally finished telling Sans all that Undyne had told him, so they left her bedroom in the back and walked towards the front of the house.

"Geez, Pap," Sans said looking up at him. "You didn't have to go into so much detail. You could have just told me she's depressed because she thinks her life is pointless."

"I thought you needed context," Papyrus said.

"I didn't need that much, bro. Seriously, I don't know how Frisk has not come by to complain once. Kids can get impatient."

"He used to be alone and homeless, Sans. He's used to keeping himself occupied. Speaking of which, I wonder where he learned how to play the piano and why he stopped. It sounded great."

"Why don't you ask him for yourself?"

"Okay…he's not here, Sans," Papyrus said as his expression immediately fell.

"What?" Sans asked as his eyes darted around in panic until they fell on the note on the piano bench.

Sans short cut to the bench while Papyrus looked around for him.

"Frisk?" Papyrus asked fearfully while looking under the sink. "You're not hiding. Are you?"

"No, he's not," Sans said gesturing to the note. "He's looking for Undyne."

"What?" Papyrus asked picking up the note and reading it out loud. "'Dear Sans and Papyrus, I heard Undyne outside, so I'm going to check it out. I'll come back if I don't find anything. If I'm not back when you see this, just check start checking nearby. Frisk.'"

"Dumbass!" Sans said out loud while running out the door. "At least, he was specific. Let's go, Papyrus!"

"Wait, Sans! Where are we going?" Papyrus yelled as he ran after him.

"We're checking out the neighbors' houses first to see if he went there. I pray for his sake that he's still alive. He ain't strong enough to face a monster by himself, especially not Undyne."

Further away, Frisk, Undyne, and Napstablook were out by the snail racing track cheering on their snails to make it to the finish line as they stood at the starting line refusing to move.

"Come on," Frisk said quietly. "You can do it."

"What part of kick their asses don't you understand?!" Undyne yelled.

Their efforts were fruitless. Napstablook's snail crossed the finish line before the others did.

"You pushed them too hard," Napstablook said. "They couldn't take it."

"Well, damn," Undyne said.

"Oh, well," Frisk said. "It has never worked anyway."

"Frisk, if you knew it wouldn't work, then why would you cheer?" Undyne asked.

"I don't know. I thought maybe cheering less every time would eventually make them feel comfortable enough to go faster."

"Why didn't you tell me to do that?!"

"I don't know. I guess I didn't think about it."

"How could you not…?"

"Excuse me," Napstablook said. "I don't mean to interrupt, but I figure you'll be leaving soon so I was wondering if I could give you my phone number so we could text."

Napstablook smiled and handed Frisk a piece of paper.

"Sure," Frisk said taking the piece of paper. "I don't know where my phone is now, but when I find it, I'll have to add this into my…"

"FRISK! You're alive! Thank God!" everyone heard Papyrus yell before Frisk was suddenly pulled by his soul over to where the brothers were standing next to the fence at the end of the race track. "Hey! You found Undyne."

Sans stopped Frisk right in front of him, but he did not let go of his soul. He was out of breath, and although Sans was trying to suppress it, Frisk could tell he was less than pleased. His heart began beating faster.

The two stared at each other for a moment while Napstablook and Undyne watched silently. Papyrus stood there looking as intimidating as he could resisting the urge to play with the snails on the racetrack. There was no sound except the water flowing in the distance.

Sans did not break his stare, but he said calmly, "Frisk, do you remember what we agreed on earlier?"

"About what?" Frisk asked nervously.

"About going off by yourself."

"Oh, yeah, uh, you said not to do it."

"Yes, and what did you do, kid?"

"I left to look for Undyne, but I left a note…"

"Oh, yes," Sans said sarcastically pulling the note out of his pocket. "The note that said you would be 'nearby.' What was that supposed to even mean?"

"I was going to be with Undyne so I didn't think you would worry…" Frisk said.

"We were worried sick!" Papyrus yelled. "We only figured out you were gone like ten minutes ago, but we were still worried. You're grounded, mister!"

"Agreed," Sans said.

"What?!" Frisk yelled. "For how long?!"

"I don't know," Sans said letting Frisk's soul go so he could stand on the ground. "I'll decide later, but for now, you ain't going anywhere. Now, put on your sweater. We're going home."

"What?!" Frisk said yelling at Sans while he was walking away. "Sans, this is so unfair! I'm sorry I ran off, but I made Undyne feel better. I made myself feel better, too. I did something right for once. I don't understand why you're acting so pissy. Why am I being punished? I don't want to be locked up. I told you I hate being locked up. I'm not going back if you're gonna just lock me up."

Sans turned around and let his calm façade drop completely. His eyes glowed blue with anger. Frisk had only seen Sans like this one time before. Napstablook disappeared in fear, Undyne pulled her spear out, and Papyrus trembled in fear while Sans walked quickly towards Frisk.

"Sans…?" Papyrus asked quietly.

"Don't hurt him or I will end you," Undyne said jumping in front of him before Sans picked up her soul and tossed her aside into the snail race track.

"Argh!" Undyne yelled landing on her back.

"Undyne," Papyrus said jumping over the fence and running over to her. "Sans, what is wrong with you?"

Sans picked Frisk's soul up again, pulled him in close until their faces were practically touching, and said, "I'm gonna drill this into your thick skull since you're too naïve to figure this out for yourself. You may have been strong enough to survive with the humans and the monsters once, but right now as you are, you don't have a prayer. You are only half-healed, and down here, that ain't worth shit. You are nothing but an easy target for monsters who want to kill you, escape with your soul, and kill humans like your parents."

Tears started falling from Sans' eyes. Frisk couldn't comprehend it.

"Sans?" Frisk asked.

"You ask me why I'm being 'pissy?'" Sans continued with tears flowing faster. "I don't know. Maybe it's because you're vulnerable, physically and psychologically. Maybe it's because you've tried taking your life twice in two days. Maybe it's because you've been manipulated and nearly murdered by a psychopathic flower. Maybe it's because of how you've destroyed your body with those blood rituals. Or maybe, just maybe, it's because I blame myself for not looking after you when you needed me the most. Maybe I'm mad at myself for being too damn paranoid to help you or see who you really were underneath your aloof behavior and letting your pain almost destroy you. Maybe I've just started really getting to know you and care enough about you to not let you die doing something stupid!"

"Sans, I'm sorry…" Frisk said starting to choke up himself. "I didn't mean to…"

"I know you didn't, but now, you're going to let me protect you and I will, even if I have to break your legs," Sans said lifting Frisk higher.

"Sans, please, don't…" Frisk said fearfully before Undyne did a somersault in the air and grabbed him while Papyrus tackled Sans onto the ground causing him to let Frisk go.

Undyne landed with Frisk in her arms and said pointing a spear in his face, "That's enough, Sans. I will not let you hurt my new buddy! If you want to break his legs, you're gonna have to fight me."

"I wasn't going to actually hurt him, Undyne. I'm more worried about you. You're the reason I was worried about him in the first place," Sans said from the ground.

"What is that supposed to mean? Frisk helped me feel better. Are you saying you don't trust me with him?"

"Guys, please," Frisk said trying to squirm his way out of Undyne's hold.

Papyrus got off Sans and said, "Everyone, stop! It's clear everyone here has issues. Why don't we go home and talk about it? I've been reading about depression. I can do therapy now. That could be Frisk's punishment. Okay?"

"Fine," Undyne said finally dropping Frisk onto the ground causing him to fall on his side and making her spear disappear.

"Sure," Frisk said standing up and rubbing his thigh.

"That works," Sans said standing up and finally beginning to calm down.

"Nyeh heh heh!" Papyrus yelled happily leaping ahead. "I get to be a therapist. This is going to be amazing!"

Undyne glared at Sans for a second before walking ahead.

"Sans," Frisk said. "I'm sorry."

"Me too, kid," Sans said with a smile.

Frisk smiled and walked on ahead.

"You're still grounded," Sans said.

Frisk groaned while Sans laughed out loud.


	23. Chapter 23

"So let me get this straight," Papyrus said as the group continued walking ahead with Sans walking next to him and Undyne and Frisk walking behind. "Grounding him doesn't mean that he has to sleep outside on the ground?"

"No, Pap," Sans said. "Frisk is not sleeping outside. We've had to thaw him out twice already."

"Then what does 'grounded' mean?"

"It means he isn't allowed to leave the house for a while."

"For how long?"

"I don't know. Maybe a week."

"Oh, goodie! That means we can have lots of therapy together."

"Yep."

"But time with me isn't really a punishment. We should make Frisk do something else."

"What did you have in mind?"

"How about we make him hang out with everyone in town wherever he likes and not let him come home until he has to go to sleep? That way, he'll miss out on time with us completely!"

"Papyrus, that completely defeats the purpose of grounding."

"So, grounding means he does have to sleep outside."

Sans sighed and facepalmed before he tried to explain it to him again.

Meanwhile, Undyne and Frisk were spending some time together.

"So, you were a military brat too, huh?" Undyne asked.

"Yeah, that's what the kids at school would call me," Frisk replied.

"Wow, dude. Where did you live? Where was the base?"

"It was in Ebott City, so that's where I lived my whole life before I ran away. It's the city right outside the mountain on the surface. I only came back last summer. They were part of the Special Forces tasked with fighting, uh, evil monsters who escaped. They started after they got married when they were 18. My Mom said it was highly restrictive. Only specific types of magic users are let in, but they got in because of their determination and trained to become the most awesome warriors ever."

"Man, they sound like some cool people. Did they ever teach you anything? Like how to fight?"

"Oh, yeah. Everything I know about using determination magic comes from them. They taught me what they learned from their families. My Mom showed me how to use it to make my attacks stronger and dodge more quickly and things like that. She was a lot like you but nicer and gentler. My Dad showed me how to heal myself with it and create save files and that kind of thing. I wasn't an expert at any of it by the time they died. I mostly practiced it all on my own when I was living on the streets. You have no idea how useful save files are when you don't want the authorities to find you."

"That's so cool, Frisk! You'll have to show me more moves sometime, which reminds me…Was it your parents who taught you how to reset?"

Frisk froze in place for a second allowing Sans and Papyrus to gain a little distance before he responded. Undyne noticed and stopped with him. He then pulled out the piece of paper Napstablook gave him and used it to cut the top of his left hand before placing it back in his pocket.

Frisk moved his right hand upwards and telekinetically moved some blood out of his hand and moved his hand in a wave motion to move it around. The blood started glowing as Undyne watched on.

"My parents told me that determination lives in our blood, sweat, and tears…" Frisk began.

"I know," Undyne interrupted. "The flower told us. He also said that using blood magic too frequently would kill you. Are you sure you should be doing this?"

"It's okay. I'm just using enough to demonstrate. This little blood won't kill me. Just don't tell Sans. Anyways, my parents never showed me how, but they told me that a determination user can use their blood, sweat, and tears to do anything they're determined to do. However, because of risky it is, my Mom said blood should only be used in emergencies. Back then, when I realized what I had done, I couldn't live with it. I decided it was worth the risk, so I cut open my arm with the knife I used to kill everyone and used my blood to create the button to reset time. I'm so glad it worked. I would have ended everything there if it hadn't…"

"Oh, my God, Frisk," Undyne interrupted stopping Frisk before he could go off on other depressing tangent. "You're so strong. I have to train you now! You can use that to fight."

"Undyne, you remember now," Frisk said sadly. "I already have. That is why I am never using my determination to fight ever again. The Almighty showed me mercy, so now, I must show mercy to others."

"That doesn't mean you have to let your ass get kicked. What are you going to do when you meet Asgore?"

"I don't know. I haven't even thought about that. I've been so busy resetting, but now that I can't do that anymore, I'm not sure what I'll do when I see him."

"Wait, what do you mean you can't do that anymore? You mean you can't reset at all?"

"No, He took that away from me. That's why yesterday I couldn't go back. If somehow I do something bad, what am I gonna…?"

"We can figure that out later, Frisk. How about we catch up with your brothers before they freak out on you again?"

"Okay, but there's one more thing I want to do. Does your face still hurt?"

Undyne felt the scratch on the right side of her face from her spear that she hit herself with when Sans tossed her onto the snail racing track.

She rubbed it with her fingers and said, "It's no big deal. You of all people should know that it takes much more than something like that to keep me down, punk."

"I can make it better," Frisk said. "It's something my Dad showed me."

Frisk moved his blood so that it was touching Undyne's scratch. Before she even had time to react, the blood glowed more brightly before it disappeared along with the scratch.

Frisk smiled as Undyne felt her face and no longer felt the scratch.

"Like my Dad said, the Most High gave us determination so that we could do His work and make miracles happen," Frisk said.

Undyne stood there feeling stunned. Frisk turned around and immediately ran into Sans. He felt like his heart was going to stop. Frisk stepped backwards in surprise while Sans grabbed his left hand, looked at the paper cut on it, and looked back up into Frisk's eyes.

"Sans…?" Frisk asked to break the tense silence.

"What did I say about using blood magic?" Sans asked in annoyance while redoing Frisk's bandage to cover the top of his left hand. "Honestly, are you trying to break every rule I give you within 24 hours?!"

"Sans, I was just demonstrating for Undyne," Frisk said quickly. "She wanted to know how resets used to work. It was only a little blood. I used it to heal her…"

"What part of 'you're anemic' don't you understand? Frisk, your body has lost a lot of blood to your determination. You have got to give it time to create more blood to replace what it lost, or else, you are going to die!"

"What?!"

"I'm sorry, kid. I didn't want to scare ya, but that's the truth. It's why I told you not to use any more blood magic. Your body dies if it doesn't have enough blood. I don't want that to happen, but you have got to cooperate with me here. You need to let yourself rest and learn to fight without it, again, unless it's an emergency. Alright?"

Frisk started rubbing his bandages again and staring at the ground without responding. Sans looked at him in concern.

"Kid…?" Sans asked.

"I'm sorry, Sans," Frisk said. "I didn't…I didn't realize I could die."

"You're going to be alright, kid," Sans said. "You just need to eat some more food. Now, put on your sweater. We're getting close."

"Alright," Frisk said quickly untying his sweater from around his waist and pulling it on as he walked past Papyrus.

Once he got his sweater on, he stopped to look at the water. That was when Frisk saw him.

Undyne stood there looking at the ground lost in thought, too.

"Sans," she finally said. "I'm sorry. I didn't know he was that sick…"

"It's nothing he won't recover from," Sans said. "You don't need to worry about it. You just have to help us take care of him until he gets better."

"You got it!" Undyne said with her large toothy grin.

"Guys…" Frisk said quietly while he approached the creature floating on top of the water.

Papyrus ran up to his brother, picked him up from behind, and swung him around in a hug.

"Oh, Sans!" Papyrus yelled. "I'm so proud of you. You're talking about your feelings. I'm so happy."

"Guys…" Frisk said more nervously as he stood at the water's edge.

"You were right, Pap," Sans said. "It does feel good to have others on the same page as you, but please put me down before I throw up."

Sans' HP rose by another point, and Undyne stood there smiling in contentment.

"GUYS!" Frisk yelled at the top of his lungs.

Everyone finally started looking in Frisk's general direction and started walking over to him.

"What is it, Frisk?" Papyrus asked.

"Papyrus, would you please put me down?" Sans asked.

"It's Flowey," Frisk said anxiously while he started hyperventilating. "He's in the water."

"WHAT?!" Sans yelled before he short cut out of his brother's arms and teleported over next to Frisk.

Sure enough, Flowey was there floating unconscious among the plants. He was burned until his petals were almost black, but he was breathing and still alive.

Sans looked at Flowey and back to Frisk. Frisk was visibly shaking and breathing shallow breaths as Papyrus and Undyne moved next to him.

"What did you do to him, Sans?" Papyrus said taken aback by Flowey's appearance.

"Yeah, you must have blown him to hell," Undyne said before noticing Frisk. "Hey, punk? Are you alright?"

"Take him home and get him some lunch," Sans said looking at her pleadingly while handing Frisk his coat. "He doesn't need to see this. He's not ready. I'll take care of this."

In one look at his trembling clenched fist, Undyne understood.

"Come on, punk," Undyne said lifting Frisk onto her back and walking away. "Let's go."

"Sans, what are you going to do with him?" Papyrus asked. "He's been horrible to everybody, but he still needs help. You have to take him to a doctor."

"Don't worry, Papyrus," Sans said with a smile. "I'll get him looked at."

"Good," Papyrus said happily getting up and walking away. "I'll go start therapy/discipline with Frisk. We'll see you later."

"See ya," Sans said doing all he could to conceal the rage building up inside him.

Sans looked down at Flowey and waited for the others to disappear.

"Hey, Sans!" Frisk yelled from the path.

"Yeah?" Sans asked looking back at him.

"Don't kill him," Frisk said. "Please, I don't want him to die, despite everything he's done."

Sans looked back at Flowey and reluctantly said, "Don't worry, kiddo. I won't hurt him."

Undyne looked back at Sans one more time in concern, sighed deeply, and ran ahead to catch up with Papyrus. It was all Sans could do to conceal his anger until everyone was gone.


	24. Chapter 24

Once his friends had disappeared, Sans let his anger show. His eyes glowed blue. He felt his hatred overwhelm him as he stared at Flowey. He couldn't help it. He remembered everything now.

Before Frisk faced Sans the first time, Flowey told him everything. He was the one who had played with their lives. He was the one who had killed simply because he was bored. He was the one who convinced Frisk that killing was all he could do. Ironically enough, he was also the one who snapped Frisk out of his genocide.

Sans could see Frisk's memories as well as his own and began reliving them.

Frisk thought he was avenging his parents, but he started to doubt, and those doubts grew stronger as he grew closer to the Judgment Hall and listened to Flowey's story. When the flower finished talking was when Frisk started coming to his senses.

When Flowey finished talking, Frisk stood in place staring at the dust on his hands as tears began blinding his vision.

"Chara?" Flowey had asked. "What's the matter, Chara? Let's finish what we started. Then, we'll take the world down just like you wanted."

Frisk sprinted away from Flowey as quickly as he could into the Judgment Hall.

"Chara? !" Flowey yelled after him.

Frisk kept sprinting until he reached the Judgment Hall where Sans was. Sans remembered how he looked. Tears were going down his face, but Sans had no sympathy for Frisk yet. He had killed his brother and everyone else.

Sans began his spiel, and Frisk didn't say a word until he mentioned the promise he made to Toriel.

"Do you really feel bad?" Frisk asked desperately finally looking Sans in the face. "Do you really feel bad about breaking the promise?"

"What?" Sans asked incredulously. "Of course, I do! I didn't want this to happen! You've given me no choice, kid! You've murdered her and my brother and everyone else so I have to…"

"Oh, my God," Frisk said quietly while dropping his knife on the floor. "What have I done? WHAT HAVE I DONE?! I'M A MONSTER."

Frisk fell onto his hands and knees and started sobbing uncontrollably. Sans stood there unable to comprehend what was happening.

"I'm so sorry, Sans," Frisk said between sobs. "I thought…He said it was kill or be killed. I thought you felt nothing. I thought you were all bad! I thought I was doing the right thing! Oh, my God! I'm going to hell."

Sans still felt little sympathy.

"It's too late for that, kid," Sans said. "You've ruined everything. You've played with our lives too much for me to feel bad for you now. The best thing you can do is let me kill you or reset…"

"Reset?" Frisk asked looking up and stopping his sobbing for a moment. "Like turn back time?"

Sans was confused. This kid had to know how to reset.

"Yes," Sans said. "You turn back time with your determination! Do you mean to tell me you don't know what that is?"

Frisk picked up the knife he dropped, rolled back his sleeves, and said, "My parents told me we could use determination to make miracles happen. All we needed was tears, sweat, and blood."

Sans asked, "But if you're not the one who has been resetting time, then who…?"

The tile broke apart and Flowey came out of the floor.

"What the hell…?" Sans asked. "Who are you?"

"Chara, what are you doing?" Flowey asked. "What aren't you killing him?"

Frisk moved his hands in a waving motion and started pulling his tears and his sweat out in front of him.

"Chara?!" Flowey yelled. "We're so close! You've done what I haven't managed to do in years in all my resets! Why are you turning back?!"

"That was you?!" Sans asked.

"Chara, you're blowing everything!" Flowey yelled more angrily now. "How could you?! I've been waiting all this time for this chance! We were gonna destroy this boring world! Why are you doing this?!"

"My name's not Chara!" Frisk yelled. "It's Frisk, and I'm going to make things right! You lied to me! You let me think they felt nothing!"

Flowey was visibly crushed, but very quickly, his sigh curled into a dark smile and he started laughing.

"It looks like I really was fooling myself this whole time," Flowey said with a smile. "But I'm not the only one. You fooled yourself, kid. I never told you they were evil. You came to that conclusion. All. On. Your. Own. You were so focused on carrying out your little mission that you didn't even think about that. Did you? Now, you have blood on your hands. Or should I say dust?"

"You, son of a bitch!" Sans yelled pulling out his Gaster Blasters to fire at Flowey.

"Don't focus your energy on me, smiley trash bag," Flowey said. "Why don't you focus it on the one who killed your pathetic little brother?"

A bright glow lit up the room. Frisk had cut open the vein on his left arm, and the blood was flowing through the air and glowing with its magic. It surrounded Frisk in coils as he breathed hard and focused his energy as well as he could until a reset button appeared magically before him.

"Frisk?" Sans asked.

"I'm going back, Sans," Frisk said with a hopeful smile. "I'm going to fix everything. I'll bring Papyrus back and everyone else back and try to give you the happiest ending I can."

Sans teared up and said, "Thank you."

"No!" Flowey screamed. "NO! We were so close! I'll make you pay, you little brat! I'll kill you!"

"Make another move and you're dead," Sans said surrounding him with bones.

Frisk pressed the button and the Judgment Hall filled up with light that consumed the room while Flowey screamed in the background. The next thing Sans remembered he was at his post in Snowdin.

Sans continued glaring at Flowey in absolute hatred as he remembered everything that Frisk endured after that.

The flower tormented him horribly. Every mind game, every manipulative word, every insult wore Frisk down until he could not endure it anymore and wanted to take his own life. That was Flowey's plan. He wanted to wear Frisk down until he could take his soul for himself and never bring about the happy ending he desperately wanted.

Sadly, Sans could not do what he desperately wanted.

He sighed deeply and said, "I hate making promises."

Sans tried picking up the flower by his soul, but nothing happened. He tried again but still nothing. Sans finally waved his hand to check the flower's stats.

"That's right," Sans said to himself. "You have no soul. So, how did I move you before?"

Sans didn't feel like wasting too much time thinking about it, so he picked up Flowey with his right hand and short cut away.


	25. Chapter 25

Sans appeared in front of Alphys' lab where Flowey had been created. He lifted his right hand and glared at the creature. He was still unconscious but breathing. His condition was unchanged.

"If you can hear me, weed, remember this," Sans said. "I know everything now, so know I am not doing this for you. You are only alive right now because Frisk asked me to leave ya alone. Now, I keep my promises, but if you leave this lab, well, let's just say you will have a bad time."

If Flowey heard him, he didn't respond. Sans lowered his arm and entered Alphys' lab.

Sans looked around, but Alphys was nowhere in sight.

"Hey, Alphys?!" Sans said climbing the escalator to the top floor. "I brought you a surprise. Dr. Alphys? Hello?"

On seeing that no one was there, he took the escalator back to the bottom floor. That was when he noticed the large monitor showing a live feed of Frisk and everyone else as they arrived home. The camera didn't go inside the house after they entered, but it stopped right outside the front door. Nevertheless, Sans was freaked out.

"What the…?" Sans said as he walked to the monitor and started typing in commands on the keyboard with his free hand.

Much to his dismay, Sans found that there were cameras set up all over the underground, in the Ruins, in Snowdin, in Waterfall, everywhere. It was disturbing to say the least. He knew that the Underground's royal scientist was expected to stay vigilant, but this was more than a little much.

"Wonderful, isn't it?!" a mechanical voice said startling Sans where he stood. "You can see everything in the Underground, except the insides of people's homes, of course."

He turned around to see Mettaton.

"Hello, Sans," Mettaton said. "Long time, no see. What brings you here?"

"I'm here to talk to Dr. Alphys," Sans said. "Do you know where she is?"

Mettaton pulled out some sort of wipe to clean himself up with and said, "The good doctor was just giving me some updates. The work was a little messy so she's cleaning herself up. She shouldn't be too long, but I'm curious. Why have you come here? Do you have romantic intentions? Is that why you brought the good doctor a flower?"

Sans clenched Flowey more tightly and said, "I do believe that is none of your business, Mettaton."

"Maybe, but I should warn you that I don't think Dr. Alphys swings in your direction if you know what I mean…" Mettaton said.

"That's not why I'm here," Sans said crossing his arms.

"Whatever," Mettaton said rolling away towards the exit. "It is a pity, though. It would be so sweet to give that boy a sister."

If Sans had a heart, he felt it stop.

"What did you say?" he asked anxiously.

"I was watching a bit of the show with Dr. Alphys while she updated me," Mettaton said pausing in place and dramatically turning around. "I know that you've taken in a human child. We watched some of your parenting when you stood up to that monster to protect him. It was so touching. The dramatic tension was so real. We could feel it. I almost cried at the emotion, which reminds me…"

Mettaton quickly rolled over to Sans, put his arm around him, and started talking in his flamboyantly animated and excited tone, "I am so glad you've come by. This feels like destiny because there is something important I wanted to ask you. I am always looking for new ideas for the next season and wondering which exciting direction to go next. Seeing you, your brother, and the human got me thinking. What if I hosted a reality show starring you, your brother, and your adopted little brother?! This has been done with monsters. Sure, but never with monsters and a human living together under one roof! Just think about it. All the drama, the action, the heart-warming family moments! What entertainment! What ratings! Of course, you would get a slice of the pot that you could put towards his college education or whatever and you could do whatever you wanted on the show, unless things get too boring of course. But you can't say no to an opportunity like this. What do you say?"

Sans short cut away so that he was standing in front of him and said, "No, Mettaton. He does not need or want that kind of attention. He's just a kid. I'll come back later."

"Are you sure, Sans?" Mettaton whined in disappointment following Sans while he walked away towards the exit. "Can't we at least have him on a talk show? There is so much our viewers would love to know about humans. There is so much I'm curious about, too. Like for instance, why does he refuse to fight? He's clearly been through some scuffles before. He has bandages on his arms for God's sake. What changed his mind?"

Sans finally turned around to reveal his glowing blue eye and said, "You stay away from him or you're gonna have a bad time."

"Wow, you're so overprotective of him already…" Mettaton said.

"Mettaton, that's enough," another voice called out from inside the lab. "Go home and leave Sans alone please. We need to talk."

Sans looked past Mettaton and saw Dr. Alphys standing next to the entrance to her secret lab.

"Fine," Mettaton said pulling a card out of nowhere and handing it to Sans. "But, if you ever change your mind, just give me a ring."

Sans took the card without saying anything.

Mettaton rolled past him to the exit and said, "Thanks again for the updates, doctor! I'll see you later."

Then, he said quietly just before exiting, "Go get her, Sans."

The lab door slid open and shut behind him. Sans breathed a sigh of relief when the robot finally left.

"I'm sorry about him," Dr. Alphys said nervously. "The video feed was going on during the initial updates, so he ended up watching some of the footage with me before we got into the gritty work. I didn't think there was any harm to it. He hasn't seen the rest of it, though. He doesn't know that Frisk is depressed or anything like that. I've kept that from him…"

"Thank you," Sans said as he slowly walked towards her. "Please keep all that from him. The last thing Frisk needs is that nosy robot trying to exploit him like some kind of sideshow freak."

"So, Sans, what's the occasion?" Alphys asked shyly. "What is that you're carrying?"

Sans stopped and took a deep breath before he lifted his right hand and said, "You know what this is."

Alphys had to stop herself from falling backwards in shock at the sight of him.

"Flowey?!" Alphys said. "But how…?! How is he still alive? I thought, for sure, you had killed him…"

"I wish," Sans said looking him over. "But he's stronger than he looks. Frisk has told me a lot of disturbing things about him, but oddly enough, he still wants him to live. Alphys, I know that you brought him to life. You're the only one who can save him."

"Of course," Alphys said holding out her hands to take him.

Sans dropped the flower into her hands. Alphys quickly turned away to carry Flowey into her secret lab.

Sans hesitated a moment before he finally said, "Alphys, I need to talk to you about some other things, from one scientist to another. Can I go down with you? You know if there's anything I know how to do it's keep secrets. You can trust me. Besides, I don't think you want to be left alone with him."

Alphys paused in front of the door and stood in silence looking down at the flower.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Alphys replied, "Yes, follow me."

Sans short cut next to Alphys as she opened the door to her lab. She smiled weakly as they walked in together.


	26. Chapter 26

Frisk, Papyrus, and Undyne finally entered the house after stopping at Grillby's to pick up some lunch.

Papyrus stomped into the kitchen and sat at his spot at the table like a frustrated child. He crossed his arms, laid his head on top of his arms, and sat in sullen silence.

"Papyrus," Undyne said pulling up a chair next to him while Frisk carried in the bags and set them on the table. "Will you stop being a baby already? Who stays mad because they weren't allowed to make lunch?!"

"I do," Papyrus whined. "I wanted Frisk to taste more of my cooking. I mean, I know he's allergic to artisan spaghetti, but he can't be allergic to everything I cook."

Frisk smiled, rolled his eyes, and walked into the bathroom under the stairs to use the bathroom. Papyrus had somehow managed to put the door back on its hinges using bones.

"Papyrus, you don't know how to cook anything else," Undyne said.

"That's not the point," Papyrus complained. "I'm supposed to be his big brother now. I have to be able to make him food."

"Come on. You don't have to be a good cook to be a good brother."

"But Sans always cooked for me! I want to prove to him that I can do it. He has always seen me as a little brother, but now, Frisk is the little brother so I have to step up. I want to prove to him that I can be as good at this as he is. I want him to know he can rely on me."

Undyne was thoughtful for a moment. That was when she noticed the water in the bathroom sink had been running for some time. She left her seat and carefully walked over to investigate.

"Undyne, what are you doing?" Papyrus asked getting up from his seat, too. "Is there something wrong?"

"Papyrus," Undyne said quietly stepping closer and closer to the bathroom. "If you want to raise Frisk, what's going to matter isn't your cooking skills but how much attention you give him. It's like what I've told you in training. You have to always pay attention when it comes to an opponent!"

"But Frisk isn't an enemy…"

"Pretend he is, except he's also your friend."

"Oh, okay…"

Undyne reached the door and pulled it off its hinges again. Surprisingly, Frisk wasn't startled. He stood there with his hands under the running water while he stared at himself in the broken mirror. His stare was blank as if he were in a trance.

Papyrus ran over and asked in a panic, "Undyne, what's wrong with him?"

Undyne turned off the water and said, "Gerson told me about something like this before. He said it's called PTSD. It causes people to have bad flashbacks sometimes. That might be what's happening now, but how do we stop it?"

"This book might help," Papyrus said dramatically pulling his psychology book out of nowhere. "It turns out this book has recommended cures, too."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Undyne asked. "Look it up!"

"Okay…okay…Here, we go! It says here that depressed people can be so occupied with their feelings that their attention, concentration, and memory can be impaired…"

"So, he's so occupied with his emotions that he's not paying attention to his surroundings. We knew that already! How do we stop it? We need results, Pap."

"I don't know let me keep reading."

Undyne suddenly had a revelation.

"Papyrus, this is the bathroom where he almost killed himself yesterday," Undyne said. "He's not ready to be at the scene of the crime yet! Gerson told me one time that being at certain places could cause flashbacks. We have to remove him from the traumatizing environment!"

Undyne picked up Frisk, tossed him over to the couch, and yelled, "WAKE UP, FRISK!"

Frisk broke his trance, yelled in surprise, and asked, "Hey?! What was that for?!"

"Uh…." Undyne said awkwardly searching for something to say. "I really have to use the bathroom!"

Undyne picked up the door and placed it over the doorway as she shut herself into the bathroom.

"You could have asked," Frisk said sitting up on the couch and rubbing his head.

"Frisk, are you feeling alright?" Papyrus asked. "You were just staring into space."

Frisk looked down and said, "I was just remembering some things…"

"Well, you can talk about all that at therapy," Papyrus said picking Frisk up and carrying him to his chair in the kitchen. "Now, Sans said you had to eat to gain weight."

"Okay."

Frisk allowed Papyrus to put him down in his chair and opened his to-go box of food for him to eat. He got another burger with fries since the one Sans got him the day before was never given the chance to properly digest.

"Thanks," Frisk said as he started eating again.

"No problem, Frisk," Papyrus said as he got Frisk a glass of water to drink out of. "Just enjoy that food as much as you can. You'll be eating better soon. Once Undyne gives me some more cooking classes, I'll be making your food!"

"Great," Frisk replied with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.

The door to the bathroom slammed against the wall, and Undyne yelled, "My business is finished!"

"Oh, good," Papyrus said getting in his chair. "Come and join us, Undyne. The book said that if Frisk watched other people eat he'd be more inclined to eat himself."

"Papyrus, I'm right here," Frisk said.

"Yeah, so?" Papyrus asked innocently eating his club sandwich while flipping through his book.

Frisk sighed and said, "Never mind."

Undyne walked over carefully avoiding all the drawers she had pulled out earlier and sat at the table to join them.


	27. Chapter 27

After lunch, Papyrus went upstairs after asking Frisk and Undyne to pick up the drawers they flung out earlier to create a more organized environment for a therapy session since "a clean environment was the key to cleaning the chaos of the mind."

Once they picked up the final drawer, Frisk took off Sans' coat and his sweater and asked, "Undyne, what do you think he's doing?"

"With Papyrus, it's anyone's guess," Undyne said sitting down on the couch.

"No, I mean Sans," Frisk said putting the coat and sweater on a chair and sitting down next to Undyne. "Do you think he's okay? I mean. We left him alone with Flowey. What if Flowey wakes up and tries to hurt him? I can't reset anymore. The Holy One took it away. If Flowey kills Sans, I can't go back to undo it! I can't even create another save file yet…"

Frisk looked like he was about to panic. His breaths were getting shallower, he was gripping the cushion he was sitting on tightly, and he started to shake and sweat as tears formed around his eyes.

"Hey, Frisk?" Undyne asked. "It'll be okay. Alright?"

"No, it won't. I could lose him. Sans thought he had to be my enemy for so long, but now, we're finally brothers and friends. I don't want to lose him. I can't lose him. The Holy One can't let this happen. That would be so unfair, but what if He does? I would lose him forever…"

"Frisk…"

"I can't lose him, Undyne. What if he gets hurt?"

"I wouldn't worry about it," Undyne said as nonchalantly as she could manage while putting her arm around him. "You saw that weed, right? Sans almost killed him the first time. That flower doesn't have it in him to fight Sans now. If he tried, Sans would wipe the floor with him. You've got nothing to worry about, squirt."

When Frisk's breathing started getting deeper and he started leaning against her, Undyne knew he was calming down.

"You're probably right," Frisk said wiping the tears out of his eyes. "The Almighty made Sans strong. I've barely seen him fight, but I know it's true. He can take care of himself. I'll just pray just in case."

Undyne suddenly noticed the chain hanging around Frisk's neck.

"Hey, Frisk?" Undyne asked in an effort to get his mind on something else. "I've been meaning to ask. What is that necklace you're wearing?"

"Oh, this?" Frisk asked sitting up and pulling his necklace outside his shirt to reveal the key. "It's the key to the house I lived in with my parents. My Dad made this for me so that on days I got home before they did I could let myself in the house."

"Wait, you said you ran away after they died, right? So, why would you keep the key?"

"I don't know. I've never been able to let it go. I can't really use it for anything. Another family probably lives in that house now. I've never been able to go back, so I don't know for sure. But my Dad made this for me. When I wear this, I feel like I'm carrying a piece of him around with me. I guess that's why. It's also something to show the police to trick them into thinking I have a home."

"Nice."

"HEY! STOP MAKING PROGRESS WITH HIM, UNDYNE! THAT'S MY JOB!" a voice yelled from upstairs.

Papyrus then vaulted over the railing and landed on the floor in front of them. Frisk and Undyne stared at him in surprise. He was wearing jeans and a white sweater with his normal red boots.

"Well, I see the power of this outfit has made you speechless," Papyrus said. "If I knew this would happen, I would have stayed the way I was. I changed because whenever I watch therapists on TV this is how they're dressed. What do you think?"

"Papyrus, you look…normal," Frisk said in surprise.

"Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen you without your armor on," Undyne said. "You look good."

"Why, thank you," Papyrus said. "The goal is to look as unintimidating as possible! Nyeh heh heh! Now, let's begin our session. Wait a second…neither of you are sitting right."

"What are you talking about?" Undyne asked.

"You have to lie on your backs with you heads on the arms of the couch."

"Why?"

"Because that's what patients do in every picture of patients and doctors in therapy sessions in the book. We have to do that for the therapy to be effective. Besides, we don't have a fainting couch."

Although they were confused, Frisk and Undyne laid back on the opposite sides of the couch.

"Alright, now, all I need is a chair," Papyrus said. "Hold on a second."

Papyrus quickly ran into the kitchen and came back out with a chair from their kitchen table.

"Alright, guys," Papyrus said pulling out his chair and dramatically sitting down on it. "Now, where do we begin?"

"You're the one who has been reading that book," Undyne said. "Why don't you tell us?"

"Right, of course," Papyrus said pulling out the book and flipping through for the right place to read from again. "Let's see…cures…cures…cures…here we go. According to this, everyone has three basic psychological needs: self-worth, intimacy with others, and intimacy with the Divine…"

"Well, let's see," Undyne said. "I love myself and I have plenty of friends, but the Man Upstairs and I are not on the best terms. What exactly does intimacy with the Divine One mean?"

"I'm not sure. I haven't started that chapter yet."

"Well, I know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna look for some ancient scriptures like the kid mentioned. Do you know where any might be?"

"You can check in my room or go to the library if you don't find any there."

"Okay!" Undyne yelled loudly as she immediately bolted into Papyrus' room.

"As for you, Frisk," Papyrus said. "I think you're the opposite. Sans said you've already been talking to the Divine, so we need to work on your sense of self-worth and your ability to identify with other people."

"How do we do that?" Frisk asked.

"Uh…" Papyrus said. "I don't know…Let me think for a minute."

"OH, MY GOD!" they heard Undyne yell from Papyrus' bedroom. "THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!"

"Have you found the ancient scriptures, Undyne?!" Papyrus yelled.

"No, I found your manga collection! Why haven't you told me about these?! I have never seen any of these stories before! You're not supposed to hide anything from your captain!"

"I'm not done reading them yet. I didn't want you to take them and never give them back."

"Why would I do that?"

"You lost the last manga I let you borrow before I finished."

"Well, whatever. Don't bug me. I have reading to do!"

"Undyne, you're supposed to be getting closer to God."

"These manga have spiritual themes. One of them has angels in them! I'll read them and meditate or whatever later."

"Okay, I guess that works."

"Papyrus?" Frisk asked skeptically. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I don't know, but it's best not to argue with her," Papyrus said quickly. "Now, getting back to you, do you have a good sense of self-worth?"

"What does self-worth even mean?"

"Hold on. Let me check the glossary."

Papyrus flipped through the book until he reached the glossary at the end and said, "Here, it is. Self-worth is the opinion you have about yourself and the value you place on yourself. So, do you have a good opinion of yourself that results in you valuing yourself highly?"

Frisk thought for a moment, but he finally had to say, "I don't know."

"What?" Papyrus asked. "Do you care to explain why? The book says that's an important thing to ask."

Frisk rolled over so that he was looking at Papyrus and said, "The ancient scriptures say that every creature is valuable because they are created by the Holy One, especially the humans and the monsters who were made in His image. I know that, but I don't feel that valuable. I still feel like a screw-up who shouldn't be around anyone besides you guys."

"But I thought you didn't want to die anymore."

"I don't. I mean, He forgave me and told me to live and show mercy and stuff, but I don't know what to do yet. The only thing I really want to do is get my backpack back."

"What do you mean?"

"He left his backpack on top of the mountain before he fell," Undyne yelled down from Papyrus' room. "His Dad's mp3 player is in it, and he really wants to get it back."

"Oh, thanks," Papyrus yelled back to her. "That doesn't sound too hard. Frisk, when you're better, how about we take you back to where you fell to get your backpack?"

Frisk sat up, looked at Papyrus, and said, "You'd really help me do that? You'd really help me get it back?! Even if it meant fighting Asgore?!"

"Well, Asgore's a real softy," Papyrus said. "I'm sure he'd understand, but even if he doesn't, I'll still go with you as long as we come back…"

"Of course," Frisk said letting his legs hang over the couch. "I don't have anyone on the surface. I'm happier down here than I was up there. That backpack is the only thing I want to get. Then, we can come back."

"Okay then, Frisk," Papyrus said standing up, walking over to Frisk, lifting him up in his arms, and sounding more resolute than ever. "I will help you get your backpack back. That is a promise."

Frisk smiled with tears in his eyes and his HP went up by another point. In response, Papyrus gave him a hug.

"Hey?" Undyne asked from the top of the stairs holding a manga in her hand. "What gives? I told you I would be willing to cross the barrier with you to get your backpack."

"I'm sorry," Frisk said. "I didn't know if you meant it or not."

"Well, I do, punk," Undyne said. "I'm going with you, too. Hell, I'll train you in preparation! How does that sound?"

"Okay," Frisk said before he noticed that Papyrus was not letting him go. "Papyrus, you can put me down now."

"No," Papyrus replied.


	28. Chapter 28

Meanwhile, deep underground in the True Lab, Flowey curled up in a flower pot with medicated soil. This flower pot was guarded by a glass dome which was further guarded by a glass wall in a bare room surrounded by lasers and video cameras.

Outside this prison cell, Sans was breaking some revelations to Alphys that he had figured out after being allowed to explore the lab freely and watch certain videotapes.

"There's no way," Alphys said. "Sans, are you 100% sure about this?"

"I'm hardly ever wrong when it comes to things like this," Sans said leaning back against the glass wall with his arms crossed. "You know that, Alphys. Besides, why else would the weed be calling the kid Chara? Who else would be waiting for her?"

"But he is nothing like Asriel," Alphys said. "That thing couldn't be him. I thought his soul crossed over…"

"It did. His soul isn't here anymore, but some other parts of him are and they've developed a nasty side," Sans said looking over his shoulder at the unconscious flower.

"Oh, my God. If I had known what he had done, I would have made more efforts to find him instead of wasting my time ruining the lives of other fallen monsters. Everything I've done as amounted to failure, Sans. I'll never be as successful as Gaster…"

"Thank God. You're a much better person that he was."

Alphys looked at Sans with a sad smile. Sans smiled at Alphys and then walked away from the wall.

"I'd better get back," Sans said. "Frisk needs me right now. Papyrus is probably starting to feel neglected, too. Besides, I'm hungry, I need to buy medicine, and I'm missing therapy…"

"Sans?" Alphys interrupted hesitatingly. "Should we tell the queen?"

Sans looked at her and said, "I don't know yet. On the one hand, we need all the help we can to keep the little bastard out of trouble. On the other hand, I don't know if I can break her heart with all she has been through."

"But you're her friend," Alphys said. "You have to tell her the truth. Don't you?"

Sans sighed deeply and said, "Someone's been watching anime."

Alphys blushed and said, "Oh, uh, I didn't mean…"

"I'm kidding, Alphys," Sans replied. "You're right. I'll tell her once I gather up the nerve. In the meantime, you watch the weed from a distance and keep him under lock and key. I gotta go home to tend to my brothers. Frisk will be getting hungry again eventually, and Papyrus might be inspired to cook for him. Undyne's over, too, if you're interested…"

Alphys blushed even more deeply than before, looked away, and said in a fluster, "Oh, I, uh, I can't. I'm so busy right now..."

"Okay," Sans said walking away.

"Wait, Sans, before you go, I wanted to give you something," Alphys said digging into her pockets as Sans turned back around.

Alphys handed him two small bottles. Sans looked them over. One was labeled "iron tablets." The other was labeled "in case he can't sleep."

"I didn't know you were also an apothecary," Sans said.

"I make medicine for the amalgams all the time to help them bear with it all," Alphys said. "I was thinking about taking these by your home to help with Frisk. I figured he would be having trouble sleeping because of his PTSD symptoms and I figured out he needed more iron when I saw the fresh markings on his arms."

"Thanks, Alphys," Sans said stuffing both bottles in his pockets. "I'll be sure he gets them. Let me know if the weed wakes up. I'll talk to you later."

With that, Sans shortcut to Grillby's.


	29. Chapter 29

"Papyrus, for the last time, leave me alone!" Frisk yelled while he sat himself on the railing in front of Sans' room.

"Come on, Frisk," Papyrus said quickly walking up the stairs. "I let you have your bathroom break. Now, come on. Let's get back to therapy."

"But your therapy is weird."

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is!"

"Will you two cut it out?" Undyne asked opening the door to Papyrus' room and leaning against the doorframe with his manga in her hand. "I'm getting to a good part and you're ruining my concentration."

"Are you reaching a spiritual revelation?" Papyrus asked.

"Oh, yeah," Undyne said diving back into the manga. "I'm about to see if Natsuki can bring forth heaven's ultimate power to kick the demon's ass!"

"See, Frisk?" Papyrus asked. "Someone appreciates my therapy methods."

"But I don't wanna be hugged anymore," Frisk whined. "It's weird."

"But hugs are therapeutic," Papyrus said walking closer to where Frisk was sitting.

"I don't care!"

"Too bad! I am your therapist and I say we are going to cuddle, young man!"

"NO!"

Frisk quickly bent over backwards until his hands were holding the bottoms of the railing. Then, he swung his legs up until his whole body had flipped over. Once he was hanging from the railing by his hands and facing the wall, Frisk dropped onto the ground.

Papyrus stood in annoyance mixed with amazement, and Undyne grinned from ear to ear.

"Impressive moves, punk!" Undyne yelled in approval.

"Thanks," Frisk yelled while standing up and running for his sweater and coat. "I used it all the time to get away from police on the surface."

"Nice," Undyne replied.

"Don't applaud his delinquency," Papyrus said stomping on the ground angrily.

"That's not what I was doing…"

"Frisk, get back here now!"

"No!" Frisk yelled in playful annoyance carrying his sweater and Sans' coat in a bundle under his arm, running for the door, and twisting the handle. "I'm going outside!"

Unfortunately for him, when Frisk opened the door, Sans was right there.

"Hey there, kid!" Sans said with a happy smirk on his face. "Whatcha you doin'? Are you two fighting?"

"Move it, Sans!" Frisk said in a panic while he tried to walk past him only for Sans to short cut in front of him again. "Your brother is trying to assault me."

"I am NOT!" Papyrus yelled from inside.

"You are SO!" Frisk yelled back.

"Am not!"

"Are so!"

"AM NOT!"

"ARE SO!"

"Okay, what's going on?" Sans asked stepping in front of Frisk when he tried to walk past him again.

Suddenly, Papyrus scooped Frisk up from behind, wrapped him arms around his chest, and held him close while he rubbed his face against his hair.

"Hey!" Frisk yelled dropping his sweater and Sans' coat on the ground. "Papyrus, let me go!"

"Pap, what are you doing?" Sans asked while putting on his coat and shutting the door behind him.

"I made Frisk's HP go up by another point after Undyne and I told him we would go with him to the surface to pick up his backpack," Papyrus said happily while Frisk continued to struggle. "When I did so, I gave him a hug and that's when I came up with the best idea ever. The book I checked out on depression said children who are not given enough affection as babies withdraw and start developing illnesses. Frisk has been alone for almost 3 years and has missed receiving affection from others, so I figured out that must be why he's getting sick. To help him, I'm making up for it by giving him 3 years' worth of hugs so that he will stop withdrawing and feel less depressed."

"Sounds legit," Sans said.

"I know, right?" Papyrus said excitedly. "I've tried to tell Frisk the same thing, but he won't stop trying to run away."

"Because you're being weird," Frisk said.

"I am not…" Papyrus replied.

"Okay," Sans said sensing that an argument was about to break out again. "That's enough. I just got through taking the flower to Alphys and I'm beat. Would you mind calming down?"

"I will if he stops being weird…" Frisk muttered under his breath.

"Frisk, I am your older brother and you will let me show you affection," Papyrus said standing up straight and carrying Frisk over to the couch. "Alright, Sans, I was just gonna watch some TV anyway. Therapy is tiring."

"Right now, that sounds perfect," Sans replied making his way to the other side of the couch.

Papyrus laid down on the couch and held Frisk against his chest. Much to Frisk's chagrin, he started stroking his hair again while he used the remote to turn on the TV and watch Mettaton.

Frisk crossed his arms and said, "I'm not a cat, Papyrus."

"But you're as cuddly as one," Papyrus gushed while nuzzling his face against his.

"You really are, kid," Sans said. "I would know. He slept on me last night."

"He took a nap on top of me, too," Undyne yelled from Papyrus' room.

"Hey, Undyne!" Sans yelled back. "What are ya doin' up there?"

"I'm reading a manga to find God."

"Sweet."

"Wait a minute," Papyrus said to Frisk. "You'll let Sans and Undyne hold you, but you won't let me?!"

"He has a point, Frisk," Sans interjected.

"I felt bad last night and Undyne was feeling bad earlier," Frisk said defensively. "But you don't feel bad and I feel fine, so LET ME GO!"

"No, you don't," Papyrus said. "You're still depressed…"

"But it's weird…" Frisk said while kicking and squirming more furiously than ever to get out of his arms.

"Okay, that's enough," Sans said standing up on the couch. "I'm sick of listenin' to ya bicker."

"Finally…" Frisk said hopefully.

Sans then immediately short cut so that he was sitting on top of Frisk's legs.

"Hey!" Frisk yelled in annoyance.

"There, that's better," Sans said happily.

"Yay!" Papyrus squealed joyfully while cuddling Frisk more snugly. "We're a brother sandwich!"

"Get off me!" Frisk whined.

"No can do, kiddo," Sans said while pulling off Frisk's shoes and socks.

"What are you doing?" Frisk asked before Sans laid his head down on top of his torso and wrapped his arms around his waist like a pillow.

"I'm just getting ready to take a nap, kid," Sans said. "I'm exhausted."

"You know that doesn't sound like a bad idea," Papyrus said while yawning and turning off the TV while scooting his body down until his head was resting against the couch's arm and pulling Frisk back, so his back was resting completely against his rib cage.

"I object," Frisk said with more annoyance in his voice than before.

"Overruled!" Sans and Papyrus both said at the same time.

"Jinx, you owe me a soda," Sans said playfully.

"Dammit," Papyrus said to himself.

"I'll just go get the soda…" Frisk said trying fruitlessly to squirm out of Papyrus' grip again.

"Not now, Frisk," Sans said grabbing Frisk's right hand. "Right now, it's nap time."

"You're so weird."

"Hey, you've reminded me. There's something Alphys wanted me to give ya."

"What?"

Sans let go of Frisk's hand and pulled a bottle of medicine out of his pocket. After reading the label to make sure it was the right bottle, Sans unscrewed the bottle and handed a tablet to Frisk.

"What is this?" Frisk asked.

"It's a vitamin tablet," Sans said. "It's iron to help rebuild your blood supply. Alphys made it herself. Swallow it. It'll help ya feel better."

"If you say so," Frisk said reluctantly.

Frisk eyed it curiously for a moment before he dropped the pill in his mouth and swallowed it.

"Good boy," Sans said closing the bottle and putting it back into his pocket. "Now, let's go to sleep."

Sans wrapped his arms around Frisk's torso again and shut his eyes.

Frisk groaned in annoyance and asked, "Can't you two just let me go upstairs or something? This is weird."

"No, it isn't, Frisk," Papyrus said opening his eyes. "It's treatment to help you feel better. Sans used to hold me like this all the time when I was younger, and it always made me feel better when I was upset."

"True story," Sans said without opening his eyes.

"Really?" Frisk asked looking over his shoulder at Papyrus in bewilderment.

"Frisk, didn't your parents ever hold you or give you any hugs?" Papyrus asked.

"Of course," Frisk said. "They gave me hugs all the time, especially my Mom. She loved giving hugs."

"Then, why do you keep calling us weird?" Sans asked resting his head on his arms on top of Frisk's torso.

Frisk turned around, looked down sadly, and said, "I don't know. I guess I'm just not used to it. It feels kinda overwhelming."

"Care to explain?" Sans said gently.

Frisk looked up at Sans and said, "Getting this much attention feels really, really weird. Since my parents died, I've just been wandering around and doing whatever I've wanted. Hardly anyone has paid any attention to me. It was kinda like that down here for a while, too, except more people were okay with talking to me. But now, everyone wants to pay attention to me and take care of me and make me feel happy. It's nice, but it still feels weird. The last time I got this much attention was when my parents were still alive."

A few tears fell involuntarily from Frisk's eyes.

He tried to wipe them away quickly and said, "I'm sorry. I don't know why this keeps happening."

A bony hand reached around from behind and used his sleeve to wipe the tears.

Papyrus said, "It's okay. That's the saddest story I think anyone has ever told me. You would have to still be heartless not to cry at least a little."

Frisk looked back at him and smiled sadly through the tears.

"I say this calls for more hugging," Sans said.

"My thoughts exactly!" a voice from upstairs yelled out.

Before any of them had time to react, Undyne jumped off the second-floor railing and tackled everyone on the couch.

While Papyrus and Sans groaned in pain, Frisk said loudly, "I'm being squished."

"What kind of attitude is that, punk?" Undyne asked situating herself on her back on the other side of Papyrus and Sans and letting her arms rest on top of Frisk. "You need to let yourself feel loved or you will never feel well enough to get your backpack! Is that what you want, mister?"

"No…" Frisk said nervously while Papyrus shifted himself into a more comfortable position and Sans laid his coat over Frisk and rested his head on his torso again.

"Then, stop your complaining and let us cuddle you while we take a nap. NOW NAP!"

"Okay…" Frisk said with a shy smile shutting his eyes and letting himself rest with everyone snuggled against him.


	30. Chapter 30

In less than ten minutes, Frisk was sleeping soundly on top of Papyrus' body.

"Is he asleep, Pap?" Sans asked.

"He is," Papyrus whispered waving his hand over Frisk to check his stats. "But his HP hasn't gone up any more."

"It's not going to be that easy, bro," Sans said while reaching out his hand and rubbing Frisk's hair. "It never is. You can't control how fast people will move through something like this. It might be done going up tonight or it might finish in about a year. We don't know, but it doesn't matter. We'll keep him safe."

"Sans, tell me something," Undyne quietly interjected. "Why has Frisk been so tired today? It can't be because of my meds still. Can it?"

"I don't think so," Sans said. "It's his anemia. I'm not an expert on human bodies, but I can say his body doesn't have enough blood in it yet. It needs more time to make some. The iron tablets should help."

"I hope he gets better soon," Papyrus said. "In the meantime, Undyne and I will pump him up so that when he's ready to get his backpack and face King Asgore he'll be ready. Nyeh heh heh!"

"Not so loud, Papyrus," Undyne whispered.

"Sorry," Papyrus whispered back. "Nyeh heh heh."

"Do you think you can face Asgore?" Sans said showing a bit of worry in his tone for the first time in Papyrus' recent memory. "Do you think he will just let him through? I mean, it's something Frisk eventually has to do, but I don't know if all of us will be able to convince the king to lay off."

"All of us?" Papyrus asked struggling to keep his voice down. "Does that mean you want to come with us too, Sans?"

"I made a promise to look after him, and I've promised the kid I'd be the best big brother ever," Sans said with a smile. "It doesn't seem like I have any choice."

"We'll figure something out together, Sans," Papyrus said. "Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, together," Sans said as his HP rose another point.

"Sans, you're growing…" Papyrus said with tears at the corners of his eyes.

"I'm going back to sleep," Sans said laying his head on Frisk's torso. "I'll talk to you later."

"Wait, Sans!" Papyrus said. "You can't keep avoiding conversations about your feelings. Wake up!"

"Shhhhh…" Sans said. "You'll wake the kid."

"But, Sans…" Papyrus quietly complained.

"Take things one step at a time, Papyrus," Undyne said shutting her eye again. "Now, go back to sleep. That's an order."

"But…" Papyrus said.

Once he realized he wasn't going to get any more attention, Papyrus shut his eyes and went back to sleep, too.


	31. Chapter 31

The group slept for about two hours.

Sans woke up first. He opened his eyes and saw the black screen of the television and the shadows of fading sunlight against the walls on either side.

He turned his head so that his chin was resting on Frisk's torso. For a little while, Sans just watched him. Frisk was completely at peace, and he was starting to look a bit healthier. His skin was beginning to regain its golden-tan color. That meant his body was creating more blood.

Sans was suddenly caught off guard by the movement in Frisk's chest. It moved up and down. Sans was confused but quickly remembered that a human's lungs were in the chest, the same as most monsters.

Sans knew more than most monsters did about human anatomy. When he worked in the labs, he had observed more research than he would have liked to admit…

He pushed the thought from his mind. Sans didn't want to think of that now. It was too painful. Besides, he had better things to do.

Sans picked up his coat, placed it on the floor, and lifted Frisk' shirt to examine his torso. His ribs were still visible but not as pronounced as before. Sans smiled. That meant Frisk's body was absorbing the food he was eating. Sans laid his head on his chest to listen to his heartbeat as he had the night before when Frisk was asleep. The heartbeat was getting stronger. More good news.

The smile disappeared, however, when Sans picked up his head and saw that all the scars on Frisk's torso were still there. He sat up and pulled off the gauze on Frisk's arms only to see that the scars were there, too.

Sans' heart sank. He had hoped that as Frisk's determination grew his scars would fade away, but that wasn't happening. The scars would probably never disappear.

Frisk continued to snooze peacefully as Sans laid his coat back over the boy's body and short cut away to the end of the couch.

He then covered his face with his hands and started to silently shed a few tears.


	32. Chapter 32

Undyne was the next one to wake up. She sat up and crawled to the other side of the couch, so she could stretch her limbs. Once she had, Undyne noticed the smell, Sans' absence, and the sound of movement in the kitchen. It could only lead to one conclusion. Sans was cooking!

Undyne got up and ran over to the kitchen to see it for herself.

There Sans was chopping up spinach while meat was cooking on the stove. He looked up from his work when he felt that he was being watched.

Undyne stood there with her mouth open.

"What?" Sans asked in amusement.

"You're…cooking…" Undyne said clearly in shock.

"Yeah. I can do that."

"I have never seen you cook."

"Undyne, I cooked this morning."

"You did?"

"God, how hungover were you?"

"Very."

"Clearly. I normally don't cook, but I need to feed Frisk. I'm making tacos with spinach. I got it at the store. It's fresh and full of iron. At least, that's what the label says."

"Sans, I've never seen you this active or attentive, not even with Papyrus. That kid has changed you already. He's the reason your HP started rising. Isn't he?"

Sans froze for a second, looked at her thoughtfully, and said, "What can I say? I have a soft spot for him. Besides, we have a lot in common. I just have to be sure Pap doesn't think he's getting replaced."

Undyne was silent for a moment before she asked, "Would you like some help?"

"Sure," Sans said. "I'm choppin' up vegetables. Would ya look after the meat and make sure it doesn't burn?"

"'Kay."

Undyne went over to the stove and started spicing up the meat.

In a few minutes, the smells woke up Papyrus. He sat up with his arms still around Frisk's torso. Papyrus yawned loudly as Frisk still slept in his arms. In his grogginess, he stood up and carried Frisk in his arms as if he were a teddy bear.

Papyrus walked into the kitchen and asked, "What are you two doing?"

"We're making dinner, Papyrus," Undyne said without looking away from her work.

"Oooh," Papyrus said perking up immediately. "Can I help?"

Undyne looked at him and said, "No, thanks, Papyrus. We have all the help we…What's that on your face?"

"What are you talking about?" Papyrus said balancing Frisk on his hip while pulling out his phone and turning the camera on himself, so he could see his face.

Papyrus' jaw dropped. Someone had drawn a moustache above his upper lip. Sans couldn't conceal a chuckle.

"SANS!" Papyrus yelled. "Why must you plague my life with your pranks?!"

"I've been paying so much attention to Frisk these past 24 hours," Sans said innocently. "I was afraid you were feeling left out."

"Why are you yelling?" Frisk asked in between yawns.

"I'm yelling because Sans has ruined my face," Papyrus said placing Frisk on the ground in front of him.

"It looks good to me," Frisk said with a weary smile.

"No, it doesn't…Frisk, he did your face, too!"

Sans was laughing out loud at this point.

"What?" Frisk said shaking himself out of his grogginess while Papyrus got out his phone, pulled up the camera for his face to reflect on, and held it in front of Frisk's face.

Frisk looked at the camera and saw his face with a monocle drawn around his left eye.

"Sans!" Frisk said in annoyance.

"How can you treat your little brothers so disrespectfully?" Papyrus asked.

"With all the time you two have spent around me, you should expect this by now," Sans said nonchalantly.

"You have a point," Frisk said in resignation.

"Don't take his side," Papyrus said.

"I'm surprised you didn't try to draw on me," Undyne said flipping the meat over with a spatula.

"I value my life," Sans replied.

"Smart guy," Undyne said with a smile. "Anyways, dinner will be ready soon, so go wash up. That's an order."

"Fine," Papyrus said reluctantly walking up to the stairs. "Come on, Frisk."

"Better do what he says, kiddo," Sans said sarcastically. "You know how we stress appearances around here."

Frisk smirked back at him and followed Papyrus upstairs. He had an idea.

Frisk caught up to Papyrus and whispered, "Papyrus, we should prank him back."

"I like that idea, but how?" Papyrus whispered back as he opened the door to the middle bathroom. "Whenever I try, he always outdoes me."

"I don't know, but it'll have to be something good."

"Shhhhh…Sans always finds out everything. We have to make plans in secret…"

Back in the kitchen, Undyne said, "I'm curious about something, Sans. Papyrus complains about your pranks all the times, but has he ever pranked you back?"

"Not really," Sans said with a smile. "But I'd love to see him try."


	33. Chapter 33

"Papyrus, you know your brother better than I do," Frisk said standing on a stool in the bathroom and scrubbing his face with a washcloth. "You have to know what he would be fooled by."

"That's just it," Papyrus said as he washed the last of the marker off his lip. "I've never been able to fool him. Someone Sans always knows when I'm trying to lie to him. It's ridiculous!"

"I refuse to accept it. There must be something we can do. There has to be some way to fool him."

"Agreed. We just need to be cleverer. We'll have to go to the library when he's not around. Maybe we can find a book on pranking."

"I don't know about that. I've read a lot of books, and I've never seen any books about pranking…"

"Nonsense! There are books about everything. You probably have just never looked for one before."

"I suppose. I wasn't exactly looking for them in libraries on the surface."

"Since you were homeless, I'm surprised you were spending time in libraries at all."

"Well, I wasn't going to school, so I went there to read and teach myself. It was safe and quiet, no one ever came in there to bother me, and it was better than dealing with cops or the kids on the street who always wanted to have magic fights. I loved them so much that I always unlocked the windows in the bathroom, so I could get in at night…"

"Wait, do you mean to tell me you slept in libraries?" Papyrus turned to him and said once he had finished getting the marker off his face.

"Yeah," Frisk said without looking since he was scrubbing the marker from his face with a washcloth.

"Did no one else give you a place to sleep?"

"Well, there are places called homeless shelters, but I didn't like going there that much. You see, adults can go there without anyone caring, but if they see a kid there by himself, then the police are called. That is why I had to leave the first city I ran away to."

"Did no one else offer you a place to stay?"

"No."

"Wow, humans sound mean."

"Some of them are, but most of them don't know enough to care and trust me, it's better that way. For me, anyway. I never wanted their attention."

Frisk was almost done washing his face off.

Papyrus hesitated for a moment before he said, "Frisk, there's something I don't understand. Why didn't you want anyone to help you or take care of you before you came down here? If there were people who wanted to help you, why would you run from them?"

Frisk finished wiping his face and replied sadly, "My parents were the two most amazing people ever. If I went to an orphanage, I could have been adopted, but then those people would expect me to think of them as my parents like my parents never existed. I never wanted that. I never wanted anyone to try to replace my parents."

Papyrus was slightly taken aback.

"Oh," he replied. "But you're okay with me and Sans and Undyne…"

"Because you're not trying to be my parents," Frisk said looking at him with a smile. "None of you are. You're my adopted siblings. I've never had those, and as my Dad used to say about his friends, you can have as many of those as you want. You only ever have two parents…"

An idea suddenly hit Frisk like lightning.

"Papyrus, I just had the best idea ever to prank Sans," Frisk said with his eyes lighting up with excitement.

"What?" Papyrus asked struggling to keep his voice down in excitement.

"We set up an online dating profile for Sans…"

"But Sans would never agree to that…"

"No, Papyrus, we're not gonna tell him."

"Oh…"

"We're gonna set up an online dating profile, and when someone responds, she'll come over and Sans will have to go on the most awkward date of his life."

"I love it," Papyrus said before putting Frisk on his back. "Let's do it now while he doesn't suspect anything."

Without another word, Papyrus ran out of the bathroom, into his room, and shut the door. The house's two other occupants were so used to this behavior that it didn't even phase them.

Papyrus dropped Frisk on the floor and started typing on his computer.

Frisk ran over to look over his shoulder and asked, "Does the Underground have many dating sites, Papyrus?"

Papyrus turned his chair around, sat Frisk on his lap, and turned back around to show him the website. It was a dating site with red hearts everywhere with a sign-in and a new account page. Papyrus could barely contain a chuckle as he pushed the new account button.

"I can't believe we're doing this," Papyrus said with a huge grin.

"This is going to be amazing," Frisk said excitedly as Papyrus typed away.


	34. Chapter 34

Sans sat at the table while Undyne finished up dinner. Since Frisk had given him his memories, he could remember everything from his point of view. Sans even remembered a little bit of what happened before he fell.

The day Frisk fell had been normal until it came to its close.

Frisk walked past all the buildings he typically did on his way to the library. The backpack on his back only sagged slightly on his back. He knew well to keep it light. Frisk walked briskly because there was somewhere he had to be.

Evening was there, and the library was going to be closing soon. It was time for him to climb through the unlocked window as he did every day and hide somewhere quiet until the janitor left so that he could spend the night.

Frisk sighed heavily, but he did not see his breath. The air was crisp and cool. Dried leaves danced around his feet from the warmly colored trees planted in the sidewalk and the trees in the park across the street. Autumn would soon advance to winter. Fortunately, though, Frisk had an old oversized coat on over his striped sweater to keep him warm in addition to an old worn black Hogan hat on his head.

His thoughts were occupied as he turned into the alley where he usually went to sneak into the ornately decorated library. Before he kept going, Frisk turned around to look at the late afternoon sun that was lighting up the sky. It filled him with determination, and he created a save file.

Frisk then turned and kept going until he found the open window that led into the library's lower floor bathroom. Just as he crouched down to open it however, a police officer approached him.

"Hey, Frisk!" one of the officers dressed in a blue-armored uniform with a dark brown moustache and a gold earring that complemented his tan complexion said. "Whatcha doin' there?"

Frisk immediately stood up and said, "Uh, nothing. I just dropped something. What's going on, Officer Daniels?"

"I'm just patrolling the area for street kids."

"Oh, really…"

"Yeah, since that one kid was found dead last week, we've really been facing pressure to get kids off the streets and into the orphanages where they'll be safe."

"Okay…"

"You haven't seen any street kids? Have you?"

"Not today," Frisk said calmly turning around so he could enter the library through the entrance. "But I'll let you know if I see any. I have to go. My parents are waiting for me inside."

The officer didn't say anything but allowed Frisk to keep walking for a second before he sighed deeply and said, "I was hoping you would tell me the truth, Frisk."

Frisk's heart was beating in his chest, but he turned around and said as calmly as he could, "Officer, what are you talking about? I don't understand."

Officer Daniels walked more quickly in Frisk's direction and said sadly, "I know you've been lying to us, Frisk. You've been lying to a bunch of people about your parents being alive. We know. We did an investigation. You've been running from social services for over two years now."

Frisk slowly backed up towards the street and said, "I don't know what you're talking about. My parents aren't dead."

"Yes, they are, Frisk. You can stop lying now. Your full name is Frisk Tobius Fox. Your parents were Franc and Necese Fox. They worked in the special magic forces to protect the city from escaping monsters. They died after fighting a noble battle. In their will, they asked for you to be put in the orphanage where they grew up, so you could be looked after by the nuns who raised them until you're adopted, or you turn 18. You went missing the night they died, and until now, no one has been able to track you…"

"No, that's not true!"

"Yes, it is, Frisk! It is time for you to stop running away. You are a hungry and homeless petty thief who's behind in school. If you keep going like this, you won't have a future. You could end up in Juvenile Detention, in prison, or dead. Is that what you want, Frisk? Is that what you think your parents want?"

"Leave me alone!"

Frisk turned around to run with angry tears streaming down his face and saw a few back-up officers standing in his way.

"We can't do that, Frisk," Officer Daniels said. "We are going to take you to the orphanage. They're good people. They'll take care of you there. I promise. I know how upset you are now, but you'll thank us later. Bad things can happen to children who are left alone. I know. My son disappeared years ago when he and his friends went exploring on Mt. Ebott. I don't want something like that to happen to you."

"I DON'T CARE!" Frisk screamed. "I'M NOT GOING! I DON'T NEED ANYONE TO TAKE CARE OF ME! I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF!"

Frisk jumped on the railing following the stairs to the library and flipped over onto the stairs before the officers had time to blink. The two officers guarding the alley ran after him as quickly as they could, but Frisk quickly jumped over the other side of the railing and ran down the alley on the other side.

"Remember what his file said!" Officer Daniels yelled. "He's a determination user like his parents. You have to watch out for his magic! Use all your justice if you have to."

Despite having a backpack full of things, Frisk sprinted very quickly down the alley and down the street. He knew the streets like the back of his hand and knew where he had to go if he wanted to escape. Frisk's determination kept him going as he sprinted past people, shops, bars, and restaurants. They passed him like a blur as he kept running and he never grew tired.

Unfortunately, when Frisk looked back, the officers were all following behind him, fueled by their justice.

Frisk looked straight ahead and turned left. He ran past a group of other kids gambling with dice that he often saw.

"Hey, mute!" a red-headed teenager said. "Where's the fire?!"

Frisk climbed on a garbage can and jumped onto a fire escape.

While pulling himself up onto the ladder, he said breathlessly, "Police…are coming…They want to…remove…street kids."

"What?!" the teenager replied dropping his dice.

"Stay where you are!" Officer Daniels yelled.

The children yelled and ran down the alley in a panic.

The police started to follow them, but Frisk threw down his hat wet with alcohol he found on the fire escape in front of them, and yelled at the red head, "Feu, set this on fire!"

Feu smiled, opened his hands, and used his charisma to light the hat and the alleyway in front of the cops on fire before they had time to react.

"I owe you one, mute!" Feu yelled before running down the alleyway.

"Frisk, we won't press charges," Officer Daniels yelled. "We just want you to have a safe home."

"I told you! I don't want another home!" Frisk yelled back before angrily dropping the liquor bottle on the fire causing the flames to spread and force the police to back out the alley and call for backup.

The flames filled Frisk with determination, and he continued quickly scaling the ladder until he reached the roof. Frisk only stopped long enough to look down to see two officers dousing the fire and to see Officer Daniels climb up the ladder after him filled with justice.

Frisk looked around in panic and saw the next building over. He ran and leaped over to it just as Officer Daniels made it up. Frisk's determination allowed him to do the same thing to the next rooftop and the rooftop after that.

Just when he thought he was gaining some distance, Frisk turned around and saw Officer Daniels catching up on him.

Frisk kept going until he finally saw a building that was too far away for him to jump to. He froze while catching his breath and thinking of his next move while Officer Daniels caught up and stood behind him.

"Frisk," Officer Daniels said with surprising kindness and concern. "Running is not going to be an option forever. Eventually, you must face the facts. You're an orphaned child with no family. You can't look after yourself. You can't get a job or an apartment legally for at least 6 more years. Your only options are continuing to live on the streets and steal to survive or going somewhere where people will take care of you. I know you're a smart kid since you've been able to fly under the radar for this long. Which sounds like the better option to you, if you're being completely honest?"

Frisk looked back at him with angry tears still wetting his face. He turned around to avoid looking at him.

Officer Daniels put a hand on Frisk's shoulder and said, "I know you're upset about this, Frisk, but I also know you haven't been that happy in a long time out here either. I lost my parents too, kid. Trust me. Pushing people out doesn't help. You can't keep going it alone forever. Aren't you tired of this yet?"

Frisk shook his shoulder out of his grip and walked over until he saw the sidewalk below.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Frisk asked. "You wouldn't care if I was 45 or 23. It's just because I'm a kid."

"We help adults, too," Officer Daniels said.

"Yeah, the same way you help other kids, by carting them off to the asylum or a homeless shelter and forgetting about them. That's what you wanna do with me at the orphanage. You wanna put me away so I don't cause trouble and people don't have to see me anymore! If that's what you want to do with me, then I'd rather starve!"

"Frisk, you don't understand. We want to help…"

"Then piss off!"

Officer Daniels sighed, pulled out his handcuffs, and said, "Alright, Frisk, if you don't want to come quietly, I'm going to have to get rough. You are going to the orphanage whether you want to go or not."

Frisk moved backwards and said, "I'm not going, and you can't make me."

"I can, and I will, Frisk."

Frisk quickly climbed on the ledge and jumped off the building while focusing all his determination on bracing for the fall.

"FRISK!" Officer Daniels yelled as he ran over in a panic.

Frisk braced for the impact, but before he hit the ground, he felt someone catching him under his shoulders and carrying him up higher and higher.

Frisk looked over to see a preteen girl about his age with long, flowing brown hair and turquoise eyes evidently using her freedom magic to defy gravity. She was wearing a light blue shirt and dark jeans with boots. Frisk stared at her for a peculiarly long time before he said anything.

"What are you staring at, Frisk?" Varda asked playfully.

Frisk shook out of his trance and said, "Varda, what are you doing?"

"I'm saving your ass, dude. What does it look like I'm doing?"

"Well, yeah, I know but…"

"My big bro said you helped him out," Varda said with a smile. "I'm returning the favor. He overhead the cops saying you had to go to a home. So, you're an orphan?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you say so? My family could have made room for you. I mean, the apartment above our theater is small, but we could have managed."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. You just have to be less stubborn in the future. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Where do you wanna go? I'm gonna run out of freedom magic eventually."

"Oh, right, I have to get on a bus. I gotta get out of the city for a while."

"How long?"

"I don't know."

"Well, you have to come back and visit. Promise?"

"Uh, okay. I'll try."

"Good. Hey! I found a bus!"

Surely enough, there was a violet-colored bus heading outside the city. Varda flew Frisk down until he stood on top of the bus as it was making a stop.

"Okay," Varda said quickly digging in her jeans pocket, pulling out a slip of paper, and handing it to Frisk. "I have a phone now, so contact me at this number when you get the chance. We can be texting buddies if you ever find a phone."

Frisk shoved the number in his jeans pocket and said, "Thanks…"

Varda suddenly kissed him on the lips, and before Frisk could respond, she phased him through the roof of the bus, evidently another one of her freedom powers. Frisk landed on the floor of the bus in confusion, crawled over on a back seat, and looked back at her. Varda waved goodbye and flew away.

No one on the bus reacted to Frisk's presence, so he simply sank back in chair and looked at Varda's number. He stared at it for a minute before pushing it back into a pocket inside of his backpack for safe keeping.

Then after using some hand sanitizer, Frisk pulled out his fast-food dinner, his water bottle, and his MP3 player. He put in his worn headphones, selected a song, and started eating while watching the world go by.

Frisk listened to grunge songs that Sans had never heard while he finished his meal. After shoving the trash and his water bottle back in his backpack, he leaned against the window and watched the world roll by.

Frisk seemed to be silently contemplating as the bus made its stops, and he only perked up when the bus reached the stop for Mount Ebott.

Frisk left the bus and dumped his trash in a garbage can by the bus stop while looking at historical hiking trail maps.

He decided on a path and followed it up the side of the mountain. Frisk took in his natural surroundings while his music was ringing in his ears. There were trees, rocks, streams, and rivers all bathed in the fading sunlight. It was the most beautiful sight Sans had ever seen.

Eventually, Frisk came across wooden stairs that had been roped off that led to a small cave in the mountain. He paused his MP3 player and shoved it back into its plastic bag and into the backpack while he read the sign explaining why the area was off-limits.

Frisk hesitated for only a moment before he jumped the rope and the fence that cut off the dilapidating wooden stairs ahead of him. The stairs were creaking and broken in places, but Frisk was filled with determination and kept climbing.

In very little time, Frisk had reached his destination. He entered the cave. It was very small, but it had a huge hole within that was only blocked off with a decaying plastic fence.

Frisk slowly took off his backpack and his coat and sat down for a while just looking at the forest beyond where he had climbed. From where he was, he could see the city beyond that was just starting to turn on their night lights.

Frisk smiled while he sipped his water and looked into the cave. He marveled at the stalactites and stalagmites that covered the insides of the cave. His eyes followed the ivy plants that were growing just above the entrance and his ears listened to the silence and the birds singing in the woods.

Frisk finally got up and walked over to the old fence surrounding the hole. He leaned on the fence a bit as he could barely get his head over it to have an unobstructed view of the abyss below.

Sadly, Frisk only enjoyed the view for a moment. He heard a loud crack and the fence he was leaning on fell over causing Frisk to tumble with it into the hole.

Frisk did not scream or even cry. His fear was silenced as he was engulfed in darkness and quickly lost consciousness.


	35. Chapter 35

Sans sat there examining Frisk's memories as he had been doing since the kid had shared his memories with them.

From the last episode, Sans had discovered some more important details about his new little brother.

First, Frisk was smarter than he appeared. Child protective services on the surface were evidently stricter than in the Underground. That meant Frisk had to have known how to avoid them for almost three years, or at least, been a very convincing liar. That was quite remarkable for a child.

Second, Frisk had lied about not having anyone on the surface. He had that girl, Varda. Sans didn't know if he had forgotten or if he was only too shy to mention her. It was probably the latter. Boys tended to be shy about romantic feelings at his age.

Sans snickered to himself. He would have to grill Frisk about it soon.

Third, Frisk was slow to trust people. He was quiet around people even if they liked him. Sans didn't have enough of his memories to know if that had always been the case, or if Frisk adopted that attribute to survive, but it did explain a lot about his mental health state.

Fourth and finally, Frisk only got sassy when he was annoyed, angry, or upset. It was like a defense mechanism, kinda like Sans did sometimes…

Sans suddenly had a horrible realization and froze in fear. That was not lost on Undyne who was putting the finishing touches on the dinner.

"Sans, what's wrong?" Undyne asked. "Did you figure out something bad about Frisk?"

"Yes," Sans said in a foreboding tone. "I have realized something awful…"

"What?"

"Frisk is smart, too independent, too good at lying, shy, introverted, untrusting, sassy, tough, and strong-willed…"

"Yeah, so?"

Sans turned to Undyne and said fearfully, "Undyne, don't you get it. He's just like me."

Sans laid his head down on top of his arms while Undyne looked at him blankly for a moment.

"Oh, dear God," Undyne said. "You're right. What are we going to do?"

"I don't know," Sans said. "But one thing's for sure."

"What?"

"I know now that God has a sense of humor."


	36. Chapter 36

Meanwhile, Papyrus and Frisk were putting the finishing touches on Sans' new dating profile.

"You think that's enough?" Frisk asked still sitting on Papyrus' lap.

"Let's see," Papyrus said taking a break from typing on the computer to read over his work. "'I'm a desperately lonely 29-year-old skeleton with no standards who is looking for any woman who will date me. I think I'm hilariously funny, charming, and outgoing. I like long romantic walks next to the water in Waterfall, going to expensive romantic restaurants, and spending lots of money because I'm rich. I'm single, but I like kids and would like to get married and start a family ASAP. Women also say I'm a great lover.' Whatever that means. What does that mean anyway?"

Frisk who could barely contain his laughter said, "I don't know. But guys say it to women around bars on the surface all the time, so I think it's a good thing. This is great. Submit it. Submit it."

"Alright," Papyrus said pushing enter and giggling to himself. "This is gonna be hilarious. Sans has never been on a date in his life."

"I wonder how long it'll take for women to respond," Frisk said wiping the tears that were coming out of his eyes from laughing so hard.

As if an answer to his inquiry, they immediately received a message.

"That was fast," Frisk said.

"I guess Sans is sexier than we thought," Papyrus said opening the message. "Alright, this message reads, 'OMG! I totally want to meet you! Can we go out on a date tomorrow night? Sexy Queen 37.'"

Papyrus and Frisk could barely contain their laughter.

Frisk snickered quietly while Papyrus responded.

"'Yes,'" Papyrus said out loud. "'Meet me at my house in Snowdin tomorrow night at this address…'"

Papyrus typed in the address and sent the message. When she affirmed the message, Papyrus and Frisk laughed out loud together for about a minute.

"God, we've got him," Papyrus said between laughing. "I can't believe it. Frisk, you are a diabolical genius. I'm so glad I adopted you."

"I haven't laughed this much in a long time," Frisk said as his HP raised another point.

"Hey, you're getting better," Papyrus said. "That's great. You've raised your HP by 8 points today."

Suddenly a twinge of sadness flashed through Frisk's mind and he looked away from Papyrus in shame.

"Frisk, what's the matter?" Papyrus asked.

"I'm sorry I killed you," Frisk said. "I wish I never did it. I wish I did everything right the first time."

Papyrus rested his head on Frisk's and draped his arms over his shoulders.

"Well, I'm glad it happened this way," Papyrus said.

"What?" Frisk asked in confusion.

"Well, I'm not glad you murdered people per se, but I'm glad you're here with us now. If you hadn't messed up, you would not be here with us like this now. I'd say it was almost worth it."

Frisk looked back at him and smiled.

Then without warning, Papyrus grabbed his right forearm and Frisk was mentally suddenly somewhere else, somewhere dark. His breathing grew shallower, and he started quaking in fear.

"Frisk, what's the matter?" Papyrus asked in concern. "Frisk? Can you hear me?"

Frisk couldn't hear him. When Papyrus' hand touched his arm, Frisk's mind went to another place, specifically back to the beginning of this run, when Flowey used his vines to hold his hands down so he could…

"NO!" Frisk screamed scrambling out of Papyrus' lap, falling over on the floor, wrapping his arms around himself, and digging his fingernails into his arms as his HP dropped a point. "STOP IT! STOP IT PLEASE! No. Flowey. No. NO…"

Undyne kicked down the door unnecessarily with Sans short cutting in front of her.

"Papyrus, what's going on?!" Undyne asked while Frisk kept whispering to himself and lost another HP point.

"I don't know," Papyrus said. "We were just sitting at the computer and he flipped out! It's worse than earlier when he was staring at the mirror. Now, he's losing HP. It's like he doesn't know where he is. I don't know what to do…"

"Remember, Papyrus," Undyne said as calmly as she could. "It's like he's having a nightmare. We just have to wake him up."

"Do you think tossing him around will help?"

"We should probably try something bigger this time if the nightmare's worse."

"What did you have in mind?"

In the meantime, Sans walked over to Frisk, got on his knees in front of him, and put his hands on his shoulders.

Sans got him out of a panic attack that morning. This couldn't have been that much harder.

"Kiddo, can you hear me?" Sans asked quietly. "I'm right here…"

Inside, Frisk's head, he heard His voice say, "I'm right here, Frisk. Listen to me. I'll guide you out."

"I'm so scared," Frisk said out loud while trying to concentrate on the voice of the Holy One.

"You're not alone," Sans and the Holy One both said in unison. "I'm right here. Just breathe."

"What do I do?" Frisk asked fearfully. "How do I make it stop?"

"Listen to his voice," the Holy One said. "Let yourself be cared for. You're weak, and that's okay. I use the weak to shame the strong."

"Did you hear me, Frisk?" Sans asked calmly. "You need to take some deep breaths to calm your heart rate down. That should help you feel better."

"Okay," Frisk responded as he started making himself breathe deeply.

Frisk stopped scratching his arms and gripped his hands tightly around Sans' forearms as if he was trying to stabilize himself.

Sans gripped Frisk's wrists back and his breathing slowed down. Frisk's expression changed, and he blinked as if he were seeing a bright light after being in the dark.

Sans smiled and asked, "Are you alright, kiddo?"

"I lost two HP…" Frisk said.

"You'll get them back."

"Why does this keep happening? He's not here. Why is he here inside my head? Why is it getting worse? Will my HP go all the way down again…?"

"Hey, you lost two. You didn't lose all of them. You're still making progress, Frisk. I mean you still don't want to die anymore, right? Eventually, I know you'll beat him."

Frisk shed a few tears and smiled.

Sans smiled back to hide his anxiety, let go of Frisk's hands, and said, "Hey. Dinner's ready. Let's go eat."

"Okay," Frisk said standing up and noticing that Papyrus and Undyne were still formulating a plan.

Sans stood up next to Frisk who said, "Sans, I don't think they notice I'm better."

"I don't think they do either, kiddo," Sans replied.

"Should I tell them?"

"Nah, let them figure it out on their own. Grab onto me. We'll short cut so we don't disturb them."

"How long do you think it'll take them to notice?" Frisk asked while putting his hand on Sans' shoulder.

"Don't know. You wanna place bets?" Sans asked.

"Yeah," Frisk answered happily as Sans short cut downstairs.


	37. Chapter 37

Frisk and Sans quietly ate dinner together. They both knew what Frisk had seen. They could recall it as if it had happened yesterday.

Frisk woke up on the flowers after resetting for the last time. He was slow to stand up.

His determination was almost completely gone from him. Frisk had once again killed a monster. He had tried so hard to hold back and only weaken him, so he could spare him. But it was still too much, and Frisk, feeling unworthy to continue or simply go back to a save, had reset again.

He rolled back his sleeve and examined his scars. There was almost nowhere else Frisk could cut to get out his blood to use the magic. He had lost count of how many times he had reset.

Frisk rolled his sleeve back down and sighed in despair. He was so tired. Frisk's efforts felt fruitless at best and damaging at worst. He couldn't take his failure any longer. His emotions inside him were painful and almost dead.

Frisk listlessly walked through the corridor towards Toriel's home when he ran into Flowey again.

"Hey, there!" Flowey said mockingly. "Are you feeling okay? You look awful."

Frisk didn't respond and tried to walk past him, but Flowey moved in front of him and blocked his path with vines.

"Where are you going?" Flowey asked. "Are you really going to try to face the world with your crushed hopes and dreams again? Haven't you had enough? Haven't you realized by now that what you want is impossible? Don't you know that you just aren't capable of making it happen?"

Frisk despondently dropped onto his knees and silently tried to hide his tears.

"Awww, don't worry, buddy," Flowey said. "Your best friend has made something for you that might just help you feel better."

Flowey brought out a vine a pod of nectar in front of Frisk.

"I hope you like it," Flowey said. "I made it myself."

Frisk grimaced and pushed the pod away.

"Now, now," Flowey chided bringing the pod close to his face again and used his vines to hold his hands down. "There will be none of that. Why don't you drink with me, kiddo? I'll have some, too. Of course, it will benefit you more than it will me."

Frisk refused to look at him and struggled violently in fear before Flowey pulled the nectar to his lips and forced him to drink a sip.

Immediately, Frisk felt light-headed but oddly numbed as if his emotions were dead. It was a great feeling, but it only lasted for about a minute before Frisk's emotions started flooding in more powerfully than before until everything he had been holding back was flowing out to the infinite degree.

"There," Flowey said while letting Frisk's hands go. "Isn't that better? Why don't you drink some more? It's a special kind of medicine I made just for you. It makes all the nasty feelings go away temporarily. If you drink it, you can forget."

The withdrawal effects were immediate and painful. Frisk looked at the ground and did everything he could to keep his feelings from making him scream. It wasn't working so he curled up into a ball on the ground.

Flowey continued, "Oh, no. Are you feeling bad again? Hurry up and drink some more nectar or you'll feel worse. If you don't, you'll stay up all night and all those icky thoughts will come back. You don't want that. Do you?"

"It's a drug…" Frisk whispered in frightened realization.

"So, what if it is? It's making you feel better. Isn't it? Trust me. You need this little poison to make you forget your problems. I know how you're feeling. You're stuck with those thoughts of all the things you could do but won't, all your potential that you'll never see, and the promises that you can only make. All of it is haunting you. You know it is, and it will never, ever stop."

Frisk's entire body kept shaking. He wanted the nectar more than he wanted anything, and his determination wasn't enough to resist anymore. His head was spinning, and his vision was blurring as his HP kept dropping while his body racked with his sobs.

"Drink up the nectar, little one," Flowey said pulling the nectar closer to Frisk's face. "I promise you'll forgot all about the pressure in your mind if you do what I say. I can make you feel okay and drive away all those ugly, wugly memories away if you let me. You'll forget that person you were and all the other monsters who resist every kindness you show them. You've pushed yourself too hard, Frisk, and I think you're finally realizing it yourself, that you can't change the world by willpower alone. What you want is pointless and far too painful for you to bear. But if you drink the nectar, it will make your mind still."

Frisk was too weak, so he took another sip. This time, the sobbing stopped, and the numbness completely took over, but it wasn't a relief. It was despair, a hellish feeling all its own. He could only stare as if he were staring into a dark abyss.

"Look around, child," Flowey said as his face grew more intimidating. "What do you see? The correct answer is a whole lot of nothing, which is what you have done. You're all alone. Cut off from the world of man and of monster. You'll never see the stars or the sun ever again. Think about that. Isn't that depressing? Do you want to know what the funny part is, though?"

Frisk gave no response.

"The funny part is that you have brought this on yourself with your failure and your stupid dreams. It's all your fault because you didn't have the guts to finish what you started. You just wanted to save your pathetic friends and be a hero, but now, I think all you're ready for is to be Asgore's next human sacrifice."

Frisk again didn't respond.

"You can avoid that fate however," Flowey said. "If you just let me take you soul. You and I will get to be best friends forever. Wouldn't that be wonderful? You will always be close to my heart and away from the so-called friends you can't save, but that's not all. You'll be filled with that nectar all the time. You can spend eternity with me not feeling a thing. Trust me. It's the closest to heaven that you'll ever be. Perhaps in time, you could even forget…"

"No," Frisk whispered using the last of his determination to fight against his numbness. "If they knew, they could help me…"

"No one will ever believe you, Frisk."

Just then, Toriel swept in burning Flowey's vines with her fire magic, scaring him off, and healing Frisk one more time.

Toriel said her familiar lines, and Frisk followed her into the ruins.

Despite his healing, he still felt the oncoming despair as he did before he saw Flowey, but he had one last hope. If Frisk could convince Toriel to believe his story if she tried to fight him again and, maybe, just maybe things would be better. If not, that would be the end of him.


	38. Chapter 38

Frisk finished eating his food and pushed the plate aside, so he could fold his arms and rest his head on top of them. He said nothing and only occasionally drank from his glass of water.

Sans looked at him pitifully while finishing his own dinner. He wished he knew what to say, but he didn't. Sans couldn't make the nightmares stop in his own head. He didn't know what he could do for himself, much less the kid. Nonetheless, he prayed for the first time in years and decided to say something.

"I wish I could say something to make it all stop, kid," Sans said. "I really do. You never deserved what that piece-of-shit flower did to ya."

"Are you sure about that?" Frisk said without looking at him. "I've done some pretty bad things."

Sans took a bite of food and then said, "Yes, I'm sure. You've repented. You've done everything you could to undo your mistakes. Now, no one's dead because of you. Besides, the Almighty showed ya mercy. I'm pretty sure that means the rest of us have to follow suit. As for that weed though, I'd happily see him burn in hell."

Frisk sat up and said, "But why him more than me?"

Sans waited to swallow his food before he responded, "You remember what he said to you when you fell down on your first run?"

Frisk was confused so he shut his eyes and made himself relive that memory. His determination allowed him to bring that memory to mind, despite how much time had passed since then, but he quickly tuned it out. It was too painful.

"I don't wanna think about it, Sans," Frisk said getting up and walking to the couch.

Before he reached the couch however, Sans picked him up, pulled him back in, and said, "You need to, kiddo. I think it would help."

"No, it won't!" Frisk yelled. "I can't think about him without screaming! How is talking about him going to help?!"

"Fine," Sans said sitting Frisk back in the chair. "I'll do it for you. I have the memory now, too. Remember?"

Sans proceeded to describe the memory, and Frisk relived it with him.

 _Frisk remembered waking up after his fall on the bed of yellow flowers. He remembered wandering how he could possibly still be alive and looking up in despair at where he had fallen from._

 _Frisk knew about the monsters, every human on the surface did. He also remembered how his parents had died. Frisk wasn't sure what he'd face as he tried to make his way out of the underground._

 _Seeing the pathway ahead, he wandered into the ruins where he met Flowey for the first time. Frisk thought he was friendly before he tried killing him with his seeds._

 _"_ _Down here, it's kill or be killed…" Flowey said in his intimidating voice._

 _Frisk's eyes filled with angry tears as he remembered his dying parents and said, "All of you are like this, aren't you? You're all killers who hurt anyone's who's naïve enough to trust you."_

 _Flowey gave Frisk a look that was at first surprised before it curled into a demented smile._

 _He only nodded his head and said, "What are you going to do about it, kid?"_

 _"_ _I'm gonna stop you!" Frisk yelled at him._

 _"_ _Interesting."_

 _Flowey was then blown away as Toriel came in with her fire magic._

"Does any of that sound familiar, Frisk?" Sans asked when he was done.

Frisk nodded his head and resumed his former posture.

"Then you would remember that that flower manipulated you. He let you think that way on purpose, so you could kill all the monsters for him. He used you like some goddamn child soldier…" Sans said.

"But he never said all monsters were evil, Sans…" Frisk said.

"He still let you think that. Didn't he? Think about it, Frisk. If he knew that wasn't true, why would he let you go on thinking that way? He wanted you to do his dirty work. I don't know why when he said he's done it himself before, but that's not the point. The point is you can't keep hating yourself when it wasn't completely your fault…"

Frisk sat up and yelled, "But Sans, I was still stupid! I still did it, and even if I'm forgiven now, there's no way I can take that back!"

Sans calmly replied, "What are you talking about, kid? You reset time. Remember? No one's dead anymore, kiddo. You brought them back. You did take it back. Besides, like I said before, the Almighty forgave you and we forgive you, too. All is forgiven now. No one has a reason to be mad at you anymore, squirt. You should stop being mad at yourself."

Frisk laid on the table for another minute in stunned silence. Sans went back to eating his food and prayed that his words had an effect.

When that minute was up, Frisk got up, pulled his chair over until his seat was touching Sans', climbed back into the chair, wrapped his arms around Sans' right arm, and started crying into it.

Sans looked at him, sighed, and said, "Now, you're in a cuddly mood. I know how you feel, squirt. I don't know how long it's gonna take for ya to forgive yourself. I'm not too good at it myself, but one day, I know you'll be able to. For right now, though, you can just let it out. It's alright. I'm used to being a crying pillow."

Sans put him in his lap and held him close while he cried, and they sat like that for a good ten minutes. Once Frisk let out all his tears, he just leaned against Sans trying to collect himself.

When Frisk had finally calmed down, he looked down and saw Sans' food unattended. Sans' eyes were closed, so Frisk reached for Sans' food to see if he could get a bite for himself without Sans looking. Unfortunately, he was frozen before he could touch the plate.

"You've lost your touch, you little thief," Sans said while moving Frisk back to his chair. "You are aware that there's enough food for seconds, right?"

"But the calories don't count when they come from someone else's plate," Frisk replied.

"What?"

"I don't know. It's something my Mom used to say whenever she stole food off my Dad's plate."

Sans snickered out loud while Frisk served himself some more food and said, "Where have you been all my life?"

Frisk smirked with his mouth full and went back to eating.


	39. Chapter 39

Frisk finished his second helping and asked, "Do you think we should get Papyrus and Undyne? The tacos are gonna get cold."

"Nah, it's funnier to let 'em figure it out for themselves," Sans said. "Besides, I can't let you cheat on the bet."

"Oh, yeah," Frisk said remembering what he and Sans had agreed earlier.

"Alright!" Sans and Frisk heard Papyrus yell from upstairs. "It is decided then! We shall throw Frisk out the window. Wait, where did he go?"

"I think they left, Papyrus," Undyne said.

Sans then started laughing and wouldn't stop while Frisk chuckled to himself. Papyrus ran to the banister and saw Sans laughing to himself with Frisk at the table.

"Sans!" Papyrus yelled while opening his fixing his door and letting Undyne leave in front of him. "Why didn't you tell us you made Frisk feel better?"

"Yeah, why not stop us so we don't waste our time?!" Undyne yelled.

"I wanted to see how long it would take you to notice," Sans replied.

"Sans, you are the worst!" Papyrus said as he stomped downstairs with Undyne in tow.

Papyrus walked toward the table, but Undyne walked to the door.

"I'm glad you're alright, punk," Undyne said to Frisk. "We can start training tomorrow."

"Undyne, where are you going?" Papyrus asked in confusion. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Yeah, don't you wanna eat with us?" Frisk asked.

"I ate while I was cooking," Undyne said turning to them as she opened the door. "Besides, I'm tired after all that planning. I'm going home to finish reading this manga and finish my therapy!"

"Okay," Frisk said. "See you tomorrow then. Goodnight!"

"Right back at cha, punk," Undyne said. "But beware. I'm not gonna go easy on ya. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Thanks for helping us out today," Sans said.

"No problem," Undyne said.

"We'll see you tomorrow, Undyne!" Papyrus said waving from his seat. "Please try not to lose my manga this time!"

"I'll do my best," Undyne said before finally leaving and shutting the door behind her.

Once she left, Papyrus served himself and inquired, "How are you feeling, Frisk? As your therapist, I am inclined to know."

"I feel a little better now," Frisk said. "I'm sorry I worried you."

"Don't think twice about it, Frisk."

"Yeah, I'm still feeling scared and I started crying but Sans told me I don't have to hate myself anymore…"

"What?!" Papyrus said sitting back in a huff. "Sans, I thought I was supposed to be the therapist who made Frisk feel better. Not you."

"It isn't a one monster job, bro," Sans replied. "It's his mental health. We have to work together to make Frisk feel better."

"I suppose…" Papyrus said. "I suppose I have boosted his determination a lot already. I can let you contribute a little."

"Papyrus, I'm right here," Frisk said.

"Your point?" Papyrus said with his mouth filled with food.

"Never mind," Frisk said with a yawn as he hopped out of his chair. "I'm gonna go read. See ya later."

"Not so fast," Sans said pulling Frisk back into his chair by his soul before he could even leave the kitchen. "We haven't announced who won the bet."

"Oh, yeah," Frisk said. "Who won? How long did it take Papyrus and Undyne to notice we were gone?"

"Only you would bet on something so childish," Papyrus said sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms in a huff.

"Let's see," Sans said pulling his phone out of his pocket. "Your bet was 15 minutes and mine was 30, but it looks like they were oblivious to us for 24 minutes. It's by a slim margin, but it looks like I win."

"What?!" Frisk exclaimed. "I should win! 24 isn't 30."

"No, but that doesn't matter," Sans said self-assuredly. "The bet was whoever's time was closest. 24 is closer to 30 than it is to 15. You lose, squirt."

"Crap," Frisk said leaning back in his chair like Papyrus was.

"Sans almost never plays fair, Frisk," Papyrus said. "Remember that in the future or you'll end up skinny dipping in the river in the middle of the night…"

"That was one time, Papyrus," Sans said. "Anyways, now that I win, Frisk has to do three favors for me."

"Alright," Frisk said. "I'll clean up."

"Who said anything about you needing to clean up?" Sans asked. "I said that was what I would do. You don't need to do it. Besides, you're too small to reach the sink, kiddo."

Frisk looked at their unusually tall sink and said, "Good point. What do you want me to do instead?"

"Truth or dare."

"What?"

"Truth or dare. Which will it be?"

Frisk thought for a moment. He had been telling the truth all day, and he was honestly getting tired of talking about his emotions. A dare would at least be more fun.

"I'll do a dare," Frisk said.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Papyrus said in an unusually solemn tone.

"But I've been telling the truth all day," Frisk complained. "I wanna do something different."

"It's your funeral," Papyrus said. "Don't be too hard on him, Sans."

"I was hoping you'd say that," Sans said. "You ready, Frisk?"

"Yes," Frisk said with more determination than he had shone for a long time. "What do you want me to do?"

"Alright," Sans said pulling out his phone again. "I dare ya to call your girlfriend."

Frisk froze and his whole demeanor fell.

"What?" Frisk asked.

"You heard me," Sans said. "I dare ya to call your girlfriend, the girl who saved you with her freedom when you tried jumping off that building. Her name was Varda. Right?"

"How could you possibly know about that?"

"When you shared your memories, you shared a bit more than you intended to."

"Now that you mentioned it, I remember that, too," Papyrus said.

Frisk began blushing, and he said, "Varda…she's not my girlfriend."

"But you kissed," Papyrus said.

"Uh…that was…she was just kissing me goodbye as a friend," Frisk said quickly. "I didn't ask her to do that. I don't know why she did."

"Maybe because she likes you?" Sans asked.

"Awwww," Papyrus said. "That's so sweet. Do you like her?"

"No," Frisk said shyly. "We're just friends."

"Well, either way," Sans said putting some numbers into his phone. "I think you should call her. She wanted you to."

"She is your friend," Papyrus said before taking a bite of his food.

"Whose side are you on?" Frisk asked. "I would, but…but I don't remember her number. I left it in my backpack on the surface."

"That's okay," Sans said punching in the last number. "I remembered it perfectly. You did stare at it for a long time on that bus."

"Sans, please don't…" Frisk said as Sans pushed the call button. "I can't talk to her!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Frisk," Papyrus said. "She's your friend. I'm sure she'd love to talk to you."

"That's not it…" Frisk said.

"Oh, she picked up," Sans said. "Putting it on speaker…"

"No," Frisk whispered.

"Hello, who is this?" everyone heard Varda say on the other end. "Hello?"

"Hey," Sans said. "I'm Sans, and I'm calling on behalf of Frisk…"

Frisk opened his mouth, but he was speechless. He couldn't make a sound.

"Awww," Papyrus said rubbing Frisk's head. "You really are smitten."

"Oh, God! Is he okay?! I swear if you're asking for ransom money I'm gonna find you and kick your asses! Where's Frisk, you dirty kidnappers?!" Varda yelled on the other end.

"Varda, no!" Frisk yelled. "I'm fine. I haven't been kidnapped. I've been adopted. That was Sans and Papyrus. They're my new brothers."

"Oh," Varda said. "Why didn't you say so? You sure found a home quick. It's only been like four days."

Frisk paused for a moment before he said, "For me, it has been forever."

"You sure are mysterious, Frisk. You're also weird. I thought you were running away from the police because you didn't want to go to an orphanage and get adopted."

"I was, but I changed my mind and found my two adopted brothers without an orphanage."

"Awwww!" Papyrus said after swallowing his food. Sans continued to sit in silence.

"Whoever you are I like you," Varda said.

"Thanks," Papyrus said. "I like you, too."

"What are your new parents like, Frisk?" Varda asked.

"We don't have parents," Frisk said. "We're all orphans, but Sans and Papyrus are grown-ups."

"Well, what are they like?"

"Uh…well…Sans is the oldest. He's 29. He is cool and easy to talk to, but he likes to make bad puns and pull pranks all the time. Papyrus is funny and goofy and kinda weird. I don't know how old he is…"

"I'm 19," Papyrus said in a huff. "And I'm not that weird…"

Varda laughed on the other end and said, "You two sound like interesting humans. You seem to be in good hands, Frisk."

"But…" Papyrus started to protest, but Sans held his finger to his lip to signal silence.

"I'm guessing you won't tell me where you are," Varda said.

"It's a town called Snowdin, but it's really far away," Frisk said. "I doubt you've heard of it…Uh, Varda, I don't know when or if I'll ever be able to come back."

"Don't sound so overdramatic, Frisk. I could always come visit you if coming back here is too much trouble."

"I don't know if you'd want to…"

"Of course, I would. We'd just have to make plans…Ugh! Alright, Mom. I'm coming! Sorry, Frisk! I have to go. My parents want to go out to get ice cream. I'll talk to you later. Do you have a phone? It's okay if you don't. You can borrow Sans'…"

"He has a phone," Sans interrupted. "I gave it to Alphys so it could get upgrades.

"Really?" Frisk asked.

"Yep," Sans replied.

"Sweet," Frisk said.

"Alright," Varda said excitedly. "Text me when Alphys gives it back to you. Okay?"

"Okay," Frisk said. "Good night."

"Good night," Varda said before hanging up the phone.

All the color flushed from Frisk's face as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"That wasn't so bad, kiddo," Sans said in a satisfied tone. "Was it…?"

"YOU'RE SO EMBARRASSING!" Frisk yelled as he left the table, picked up his clothes and shoes, and stomped upstairs. "WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!"

"You needed to talk to her sometime, Frisk," Sans said. "It was better to do it sooner than later."

"ARGH!" Frisk yelled back.

"Frisk, get back down…" Papyrus said.

"Let him be," Sans said. "He's mad."

Frisk walked into Papyrus' room, found his book, and shut himself into the middle bathroom.

"I'm surprised he cleaned up after himself," Papyrus said. "At least, he's considerate."

"That doesn't surprise me as much as you're surprising me," Sans said quickly changing the subject.

"What does that mean?"

"Papyrus, we just added a child to our family. You're adjusting well to being a big brother."

"Why, thank you, Sans! I have natural instincts. I also suppose you've been a good example from time to time."

"You can't fool me, Pap. I know it's been hard for you. I've been hard on ya, too. I'm sorry. Tell me how ya really feel. We have a plus one now, but you're my little brother, too."

Papyrus let his head fall onto his plate of tacos, laid his arms on the table, and sighed deeply.

After a moment of silence, Papyrus said, "I have no idea what I'm doing, Sans. All I want to do is make Frisk happy, but nothing I do is good enough. I make him a little happy, but then he panics, and I can't calm him down. I don't know how to, and you have to come in and do it. I'm supposed to protect him from what makes him hurt, but I don't know how especially when what's bothering him is inside his head. I'm a terrible big brother. I will never be as good as you are…"

"That's not true," Sans said. "You're doing much better than I did at your age. You're much kinder and more sensitive. He needs you as much as he needs me. Besides, Frisk is gonna need both of us to take care of him, Pap. Lord knows I can't do it by myself. You get to be my partner in crime now. It'll be alright."

Papyrus felt Sans reach across the table and rest his hand on top of his. Papyrus responded by looking up and holding his hand back while giving Sans a tired smile.


	40. Chapter 40

After about an hour of talking and cleaning up the kitchen, Sans and Papyrus decided to go upstairs to check on their younger brother.

"Do you think he's still mad at you?" Papyrus asked as they finished walking up the stairs.

"Most definitely," Sans said as they stopped outside the secret bathroom door.

"How will we get him to come out?"

"I have my ways. Frisk? Are you still mad? Come on out, bud."

"Hmph," they heard Frisk from the other side of the door.

"Come on, Frisk," Papyrus said. "You remember the rule we gave you about being by yourself for too long. Open the door."

"Hmph," Frisk said again.

"Well, I'm at a loss," Papyrus said to Sans.

"That's not like you, Pap," Sans said reaching up and adjusting the picture on the wall. "You never give up. When it comes to children, persistence is key. Alright, Frisk. We're coming in."

"Hmph," Frisk replied.

Papyrus and Sans walked into the bathroom to see Frisk sitting on top of a towel that was sitting on top of the washing machine with his back against the mirror and legs crossed in front of him while he read his book.

"Hiya, kiddo," Sans said. "Are you over being mad yet?"

"Hmph," Frisk replied.

Sans shortcut next to Frisk and asked, "Whatcha readin' there, squirt? Hmm… Monster death rituals? That sounds cheery."

"He's ignoring us, Sans," Papyrus said poking Frisk with a bony finger to get him to break his silence. "You can't ignore us forever, Frisk. Stop ignoring us right now!"

"Hmph," Frisk replied.

"Don't worry, bro," Sans said. "I got this."

Sans got down on his knees and moved Frisk by his soul so that he was sitting in front of him with his back to him. Sans then leaned on him so that his arms were folded on top of Frisk's left shoulder with his head resting on top of them. Frisk only responded by sitting up and crisscrossing his legs.

Papyrus knew this technique well. Sans used to do it when he was little to get him to stop ignoring him when he was mad.

"This isn't bugging you. Is it?" Sans asked while Frisk kept reading. "I take your silence to be implied consent."

Sans then rested his head on top of Frisk's and draped his arms over Frisk's shoulders.

"How about now?" Sans asked. "Is this botherin' ya, squirt?"

Frisk responded by turning the page.

"Watch and learn, bro," Sans said before he started waving his hands in front of Frisk's face.

Frisk put the book on his lap and stared blankly ahead.

"I'm sorry. Is this distracting you?" Sans asked. "I can stop if you just say the word."

Frisk didn't say anything but continued to stare ahead with an annoyed look on his face.

"I don't think it's working, Sans," Papyrus said. "Good God. Was I this stubborn?"

"Yes," Sans said while continuing to wave his hand in front of Frisk's face. "Oh, my God. You used to get so annoyed at the most random times. Then you'd refuse to listen to a word I said. It was so obnoxious."

"I think you're going to have to change your methods, Sans," Papyrus said. "Remember. Frisk's magic is his determination. He could keep this up for hours if he wanted to."

Sans let his hand rest and said, "You're right, Pap. Do you plan on keeping this up all night, squirt?"

Frisk looked back down on his lap and kept reading his book.

"Alright then," Sans said. "If that's how you're gonna be, you leave me no choice."

Sans got his hands under Frisk's shirt and started tickling his torso. Frisk started writhing, fell back against Sans, and suppressed his laughter as best he could while he tried to scoot away.

"No, you don't," Sans said as he wrapped his legs around Frisk's waist to hold him down. "You ain't goin' anywhere until you start speakin' to me again. Papyrus, you wanna help me out?"

"Of course," Papyrus said as he started tickling his bare feet. "Prepare for the tickling of your life, human."

Frisk burst out in laughter and continued to writhe around on the washing machine.

"Oooh, I think I found his tickle spot," Papyrus said playfully.

"I think you did, too," Sans said.

Frisk laughed harder until tears were coming out of his eyes before he finally said, "Okay, I give up. Stop it! Please! I'm getting cramps."

Sans nodded, and he and Papyrus stopped at the same time while Frisk calmed down his laughter. Papyrus sat on the washing machine, and Sans leaned back placing his hands on the dryer to support himself.

"There, that wasn't so hard," Sans said releasing his leg hold and looking down at the human breathing deeply on his torso. "Was it?"

"You guys…fight dirty," Frisk said in between taking deep breaths.

"You're the one who wouldn't talk," Papyrus said leaning back against the mirror.

"Besides, you still owe me two favors, squirt," Sans said. "And I'm making the next one a truth since the last one was a dare."

"Oh, God," Frisk said in dread. "What do you want to know?"

"I'll tell ya, but first, I think we need a change in location," Sans said. "You wanna get a nice cream sundae at Grillby's, kiddo?"

"Yeah," Frisk said excitedly jumping off the dryer and pulling on his shoes and socks. "I haven't had one since my parents were alive. This is gonna be amazing!"

"Wanna come, Papyrus?" Sans asked. "I am getting a big one."

"I suppose," Papyrus said. "Though I have to question your judgment in giving Frisk sugar this late…"


	41. Chapter 41

Once Frisk got his shoes and sweater on, Sans shortcut all of them over to Grillby's. Thankfully, it wasn't very crowded that night, so they found an empty booth to sit in quickly.

"Hey, Grillby!" Sans yelled at the flame man behind the counter. "Long time. No see."

"Sans, you see him literally every day," Papyrus said while letting Frisk climb into the booth in front of him.

"Well, every second without his warmth feels like an eternity," Sans replied as he sat down across from Frisk.

"Why do I put up with you?" Papyrus asked himself while sitting himself down.

Frisk turned around, stood up in the booth, and started jumping up and down on the seat.

"Frisk, what are you doing?" Papyrus asked as he grabbed his sweater and pulled him down.

"I'm just testing the seats to see how good the cushions are, Papyrus," Frisk said sitting turning himself around. "They're good."

"You can't do that in a restaurant," Papyrus said.

"Why not? I used to do it when I was with my parents. That's how we tested if the booths were okay to sit in."

"You just can't. God, we have to work on your social skills. I'm not going to let you turn into Sans."

"What are you talkin' about, Pap?" Sans said as Grillby walked up to take their order. "I'm a fantastic role model."

"Sans, you're lazy, you make bad puns, and you drink ketchup," Papyrus said while Frisk was snickering next to him. "You're the worst role model ever. I'm not going to let you corrupt Frisk."

"Why do you keep talking about me like I'm not here, funny bones?" Frisk asked teasingly.

Papyrus sat there in stunned silence for a second before he said, "My God. Did you just make a pun?"

"Yeah," Frisk admitted. "But I don't think it was very good…"

"It wasn't that bad," Sans said reassuringly. "We'll work on it. You make me so proud."

"I'm already too late…" Papyrus lamented.

"Hey there, Sans," Grillby said getting the group's attention. "I guess it's really true. I saw him with Papyrus and Undyne earlier, but I wanted to see him with you for myself. You've really adopted a human. Huh?"

"I haven't signed the paperwork yet, but yeah," Sans said looking at Frisk and then at Grillby. "He's our little brother now. Don't have a problem with him? Do ya?"

"Of course not," Grillby replied. "But other monsters might. You ought to do something about that."

"We're protecting him," Papyrus said defensively wrapping his arms around Frisk. "I'll fight any monster that tries to take him."

"You misunderstand me," Grillby said. "Far be it from me to tell you what you should be doing with your time, Sans, but I'm saying if you sign that paperwork certain monsters will be more likely to leave him alone…"

"I understand," Sans said understanding his meaning. "I'll get on it."

Frisk looked at Sans and back to Grillby silently trying to guess at their underlying meaning.

"Good," Grillby said. "Anyways, what do you want to eat?"

"A nice cream sundae," Sans said. "For the three of us. With soda on the side…"

"I'll take a water," Papyrus said letting Frisk go. "I don't know how you drink that crap, Sans."

"Okay," Grillby said as he turned and walked away. "Coming right up."

When Grillby finally disappeared into the kitchen, Frisk asked, "What was that about? What did Grillby mean?"

Sans leaned back and said, "I gotta get some paperwork done to legalize your adoption. With everything that's been happening the past few days, it hadn't even occurred to me, but it's something I have to do. I did some internet research, and thankfully, the process isn't that complicated, especially since no one else is exactly fighting over ya. I even know a way to get it done faster…"

"What exactly do we have to do to make everyone recognize that we are Frisk's big brothers now?" Papyrus asked.

"The law's pretty laid back. All ya gotta do is get a document signed by someone higher up who thinks you're responsible enough to raise a child."

"But you're super irresponsible. How are you going to convince someone you can be a good big brother?"

"I raised you after Dad died. Didn't I?"

"True…"

"Sans, who are the certain monsters Grillby was talking about?" Frisk asked. "What was he talking about?"

Sans looked at his concerned face thoughtfully and said, "You know. All the monsters who want your soul? They'll be more willing to back off if they know you have guardians…"

"Is there any monster in particular that I should be worried about?" Frisk asked with more concern behind his voice. "What are you not telling me?"

Sans sighed deeply and smiled before he said, "You've always been smarter than you appear. Don't worry about it. They're all threats right now, and we're doing everything we can to look after you. Okay?"

"But Sans…" Frisk replied.

"Here are your drinks," Grillby said standing there with a tray of drinks in his hands.

"Oh, thanks," Sans said grabbing his and Frisk's drink while Papyrus grabbed his.

Grillby then left without a word. Sans then started drinking his soda while he pushed Frisk's soda over to him.

"Come on, Sans…" Frisk whined.

"Give it up, Frisk," Papyrus said. "Sans isn't gonna budge. He never budges when it comes to keeping his secrets."

"Fine," Frisk relented before he took a sip of his soda. "Hey. This soda isn't bad."

"I knew you'd like it," Sans said.

"I don't understand how you two can drink that stuff," Papyrus said in disgust while sipping his water.

Sans put down his drink and said, "Alright, kiddo. Time for the truth…"

Frisk looked at Sans while putting his drink down on the table as he waited for him to ask his question.

"Yes?" Frisk asked in preparation.

"Where did ya meet Varda?" Sans asked.

Frisk froze for a moment in hesitation before he said, "I don't know if you'd like the answer to that."

"Don't be silly, Frisk," Papyrus said. "Why wouldn't we like the answer to that question?"

"Well…" Frisk said.

"You were doing something illegal. Weren't you?" Sans asked.

"How could you guess that?" Frisk asked back.

"The cop who chased you said that you were a petty thief," Sans replied.

"Frisk, how could you?" Papyrus asked crossing his arms in disappointment. "Why would you be a delinquent? Why would you steal?"

"I had no choice," Frisk said defensively. "If I showed up at the food pantries too often, people would suspect me. I couldn't get a job. There was nothing else I could do if I wanted to eat…"

"What were you doing when you met Varda?" Sans asked.

"I was where I usually was on a Saturday evening," Frisk said. "I was picking pockets outside of a crowded bar…"

"Frisk," Papyrus said in disapproval.

"I was better than other kids who did it," Frisk replied defensively while looking at the table. "I never took cards. I only took cash, and I left the wallets on the ground next to them where they'd be found…Anyways, it was a Friday summer evening soon after I returned to my hometown. I'd say like three days after I came back maybe. I was picking pockets outside of a theater bar where people were drinking and smoking cigarettes outside during intermission. I had picked a wallet and was in the alley nearby counting my money to see if I had enough to get dinner. I guess Varda saw me run off with the money because she flew over and told me that if I didn't come inside and watch the rest of their show she would call the cops. I went inside with her and saw her dance and do tricks with her brother while he played with his fire magic during the intermission. It was amazing. Then, I watched the rest of the improv act. I didn't get all the jokes, but it was funny. When the show was over, I played video games with Varda and her brother in their parents' apartment. They had pizza and let me sleep over. It was fun. I started coming over every week. I told them my parents didn't mind."

"Why wouldn't you just move in with them?" Papyrus asked. "Varda liked you. Her family did, too. Why not just tell them the truth?"

"It's not that simple up there," Frisk said looking up at Papyrus defensively. "It was too risky. If anyone found out, they could have called social services and I would have been taken to the orphanage. I couldn't go back there. Besides, their apartment was so small. They would have said no for sure."

"You don't know that," Sans said.

"Well, I wasn't going to risk it!" Frisk yelled leaning forward on the table with tears coming out of his eyes. "I wasn't gonna go blabbing about my situation to everyone I met. I didn't want to get locked up in the orphanage and possibly get adopted by some jerks who expected me to call them Mom and Dad like my parents never even existed. I did what I had to do…"

"It was still stupid," Sans replied calmly. "You know that right? You had someone who loved you, but you ran away from her and wouldn't let her help you. How do you think that made her feel?"

Frisk sat back down, wiped his tears, and leaned back in his chair.

He then sighed and said, "What difference does it make now? I'll never see her again."

He sulked without responding as he thought over his actions.

Grillby finally brought the nice cream sundae, but Frisk still sat silently.

"Frisk?" Papyrus asked breaking the silence. "Do you want any of the sundae?"

Frisk shook his head.

At that point, Sans finally said, "Come on, kiddo. This thing is huge. We can't let it go to waste. What's wrong?"

"You were right," Frisk said sadly trying to hold his tears. "I was mean to Varda, and now, it's too late. I'll never see her again."

"Why do you say that?" Papyrus asked before shoving a huge spoonful of ice cream in his mouth. "She could come visit."

"No, she can't," Frisk said. "What if she overreacts and calls the army? There would be another war. I can't risk that ever happening. Even if she didn't, I could never ask Varda to come here."

"Why not?"

"Varda's magic comes from her freedom. She's free-spirited. She would never tolerate being trapped here like we are. I don't want her to be unhappy."

"You really do care about her."

"Yeah, she's my friend. I should have asked her if I could be part of her family."

"I'm glad ya didn't," Sans finally said.

"Really?" Frisk asked.

"If ya did, we would have never met," Sans said. "It's like what the scriptures say. The Almighty uses our screw-ups to do good things. Right?"

Frisk smiled slightly while picking up his spoon and said, "Yeah."

Frisk was silent for another moment while Sans and Papyrus ate from their sundaes before he said, "I'm sorry about being a pain in the ass these past few days."

"Don't worry about it, squirt," Sans said in between bites while Papyrus continued eating. "What are brothers for? Now, get some ice cream before Papyrus eats it all."

"Hey," Papyrus spat back. "I am not eating it all. You're just too slow."

Frisk smiled and finally took his first bite of ice cream in almost three years. Nothing ever tasted so sweet.


	42. Chapter 42

Frisk was in the bathroom upstairs brushing his teeth.

He had gone up there to use the bathroom after he, Sans, and Papyrus had come home. But Sans told him to brush his teeth while he was in there in preparation for the last dare.

Frisk spat into the sink and rinsed his toothbrush off with determination. If Sans wanted Frisk to brush his teeth, this dare probably involved kissing or something gross like that, but Frisk could handle it. He put his toothbrush back in the cup on the edge of the sink and took a deep breath in preparation.

"Alright, you're ready," Frisk said quietly to himself.

"Are you sure about this?" the One from above said.

"Totally."

Frisk turned away, walked confidently to the door, and twisted the handle. But oddly enough, Sans and Papyrus were already standing there with mischievous looks on their faces that Frisk had every right to consider highly suspicious.

After exchanging confused glances for a second, Frisk finally said, "Sans, I'm ready for the dare. What is it?"

"Are you sure you're ready for this, Frisk?" Sans asked while Papyrus snickered with anticipation. "It's a doozy."

"Yeah," Frisk said confidently. "I can handle whatever dare you throw at me. Bring it on!"

"Okay," Sans said as he and Papyrus picked Frisk up on either side by his arm pits so that he was suspended in the air. "You asked for it."

"What are you doing?" Frisk asked. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see, squirt," Sans said.

"You sure will," Papyrus said in between snickers of excitement.

The brothers walked towards the stairs until they reached Papyrus' room. At which point, Papyrus opened his door with his free hand and turned on the lights to his room.

"Bedtime!" Sans and Papyrus said at the same time as they both carried Frisk into the room.

"What?" Frisk asked incredulously. "What about the dare?"

"This is the dare, kid," Sans replied as they both walked in and put Frisk down on the bed. "I dare ya to go to sleep. It's been a long day, and you need rest."

"Come on," Frisk whined crossing his arms in annoyance. "It's not even 10 o'clock yet. No one goes to bed this early except babies."

"You're a baby human," Papyrus said rubbing Frisk's hair. "Aren't ya?"

"No, I'm a kid," Frisk said. "There's a big difference."

"You still need to sleep, squirt," Sans said.

"But I'm too old to go to bed this early…" Frisk whined.

"When do you normally go to bed, Frisk?" Papyrus asked.

"Uh, it changes," Frisk said focusing his mind to remember the last time he went to sleep on the surface. "On the surface, it was whenever I got tired of reading, so around 2 at the latest…"

"In other words, you haven't had a consistent bedtime since your parents passed on?" Sans asked while pulling Papyrus' rolling chair over to the bed for him to sit on.

"I guess not," Frisk admitted.

"I knew it. Well, you're going to start going to bed more consistently from now on. You need to. You do eventually have to go back to school…"

"What? But I'm so behind. Why can't I just stay out of school, read books, and get a general education diploma when I turn 17?"

"Because you're 10, not 17?"

"Fine, but I can't go to sleep. I mean. I'd be stealing Papyrus' bed. Why don't I just wait for you to go to sleep so I can share your bed?"

"No way," Papyrus protested. "You slept in Sans' room last night! You're gonna be sleeping in my room tonight! Besides, Sans said he would let you…"

"But I can't make you sleep on the floor…" Frisk protested.

"Nonsense," Papyrus said dramatically pulling off his clothes to reveal a white undershirt and boxer shorts underneath. "You can share the bed with me! Just let me brush my teeth."

Papyrus then skipped into his bathroom to brush his teeth.

"But…" Frisk tried protesting again.

"But nothin'," Sans said. "I dared ya to go to sleep, and you have to follow through, right? Besides, have ya noticed what you've been doin' a lot of today?"

"Getting on your nerves?" Frisk asked nervously.

The response made Sans laugh out loud for a moment. Papyrus exited the bathroom and exchanged confused glances with Frisk before Sans finally stopped.

When he finally finished, Sans said, "Yes, but that is not what I'm referring to. I'm talking about you falling asleep. Almost every time you've been able to sit down for a few minutes, you've passed out. You know why? It's your anemia. Your body is only half-healed and needs to be allowed to rest to get stronger, or you ain't goin' nowhere. Understood?"

"Okay," Frisk finally relented. "I guess I can go to sleep."

"Good boy," Sans said as he got up from the chair and walked to the bookshelf while Frisk pulled off his shoes, socks, and his pants and stacked them neatly on the floor at the end of the bed.

"I'm not a dog," Frisk said.

"Hey, Frisk," Papyrus asked as he climbed into bed behind him. "How are you so organized?"

"What do you mean?" Frisk asked as he crawled over next to Papyrus.

"You don't just throw things on the floor," Papyrus said. "You organize it in a neat pile."

"It's practical. I know where everything is that way. Besides, my parents were super neat freaks. They said it was because everything was always tidy and clean in the orphanage and in the military. I have to do laundry tomorrow morning anyway."

"That makes sense. I wish someone else would pick up on that habit! Wait, why do you have to do laundry?"

"I only have one outfit. I can't let it get dirty."

"That's right. Okay, tomorrow after training, we're gonna get you some new clothes."

"Why? What's wrong with the clothes I have?"

"No offense," Papyrus said pulling at the oversized t-shirt. "But your clothes make you look like you're homeless."

"But I was homeless," Frisk protested.

"Well, you're not homeless anymore," Papyrus said. "So, you don't need to dress like it. We need to get you some nicer clothes…"

"Alright," Sans said grabbing a book from Papyrus' bookshelf. "I've picked one out."

"Picked what out?" Frisk asked.

"A book to read to ya," Sans said after shortcutting himself onto the rolling chair.

"Um, Sans, no one has read me to sleep since kindergarten," Frisk said in confusion. "You don't need to read me to sleep. I can just go pick up my book in the bathroom and read myself to sleep…"

"The book ain't for you, squirt," Sans said opening to the first page.

"YEAH!" Papyrus screamed at the top of his lungs. "STORYTIME! WOO!"

"What?" Frisk asked staring at Papyrus as if he had just sprouted another head.

In one motion, Papyrus covered himself with the blankets and bearhugged Frisk from behind so that he was cuddling him like a teddy bear.

"Shhhh…." Papyrus said to Frisk. "Don't interrupt the story, Frisk."

"You guys are weird…" Frisk said quietly to himself.

Frisk responded by giving Sans a confused look as he started reading.

"The year that Buttercup was born, the most beautiful woman in the world was a French scullery maid named Annette…" Sans read.

"Wait a second," Frisk interrupted as his eyes flashed with recognition. "Did you say Buttercup?"

"Yeah," Sans said. "What about her?"

"Buttercup is a woman," Frisk said as his heart started glowing with happy memories. "What's the name of the book?"

"The Princess Bride? Do you know this story?"

"Oh, my God. I've never read the book, but I've seen the movie. That was my Mom's favorite movie. We used to watch it all the time."

"Was it good?" Papyrus asked.

"Yeah, it was so funny," Frisk said getting more and more excited. "We used to watch it all the time. It was so cool. There was a lot of sword-fighting. All the people in it were hilarious. There were tons of good lines. I loved it, but I haven't thought about it in forever. I haven't watched it since my parents were alive. I can't believe you have the book. Where did you get it?"

"I found it in the dump," Papyrus said.

"Really?" Frisk asked. "I've been there. I found an anime DVD once. We have to go there. Maybe we can find the movie. Let's go now!"

"Yeah!" Papyrus yelled in agreement.

"You can go tomorrow," Sans said. "Right now, you need to sleep."

"Awww," Frisk said. "Do we have to wait that long?"

"I gave you a dare. Remember?" Sans replied. "Besides, you're still sick."

"I'm not that sick," Frisk complained.

"I can keep reading this book if you want me to," Sans said.

"Okay, sorry," Frisk said finally relaxing against Papyrus. "Keep reading."

"Annette worked in Paris for the Duke and Duchess de Guiche…" Sans read.

Sans kept reading for a while without interruption, but by the time he finished reading the second chapter, Papyrus interrupted him.

"Frisk is asleep, Sans," Papyrus interrupted while rubbing the child's hair. "That didn't take long."

Sans looked up to see Frisk sleeping on his side against Papyrus' chest and smiled.

"Like I said before," Sans said shutting the book, jumping out of the rolling chair, and pushing it back to where it was before. "He hasn't been feeling well, Pap. Frisk has probably felt weak all day. He just hasn't said anything."

"I don't think Frisk likes to pay attention to those sorts of things or let those things hold him back," Papyrus said laying the sleeping child on the bed so that he was facing the wall. "He's way too stubborn…Sans?"

"Yes," Sans said after putting the book back on the book shelf.

"It's Frisk," Papyrus said. "He's hot. I think he has a fever. It's all over his body."

Sans short cut onto the bed and put his hand on Frisk's forehead. Everything felt normal. It quickly occurred to him what Papyrus was talking about, and he smiled.

Sans breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Frisk doesn't have a fever, Papyrus. That's his body heat. All humans have a normal internal body temperature of around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit to keep everything functioning. Their bodies produce the heat naturally and it escapes through their skin."

Papyrus put his hand on Frisk's neck and felt the warmth against his cool bones.

"Oh," Papyrus said grinning at the new discovery. "That's why the cold bothers him so much."

"Yeah," Sans said. "If too much heat escapes, their bodies will freeze to death, and if they get too hot, they could die of a heat stroke."

"Human bodies certainly are delicate," Papyrus said pulling the blankets over the sleeping boy. "Say, Sans. How do you know so much about humans' bodies?"

Sans' demeanor fell, and his heart immediately sank as the memories from the Lab started popping up against his will.

"Sans?" Papyrus asked. "What's the matter?"

As if an answer to prayer, Sans' phone rang in his pocket. He quickly answered it and short cut off the bed.

"Hello?" Sans said when he reappeared leaning against Papyrus' bed. "What? Oh, God. Alright, I'm on my way…"

Sans ended the call and headed to the door.

"Sans, what's happening?" Papyrus asked. "Who was that?"

"That was Alphys," Sans replied giving him a serious look. "It looks like the weed is gonna wake up soon. I have to go make sure he doesn't cause trouble. Stay here and look after Frisk. Okay?"

"Okay," Papyrus said while Sans turned off the lights. "Be careful."

"Don't worry about me," Sans said with a relaxed smile that belied his inner anxiety. "I'll be fine. See ya later."

Sans then short cut away while Papyrus went to sleep next to his little brother.


	43. Chapter 43

Flowey opened his eyes and saw nothing but a blur. He tried lifting his head, but his head felt like it weighed much more than it did. Flowey couldn't understand why he felt so weak.

He blinked until his vision finally began to clear. In the meantime, Flowey inched his head forward in the damp soil until he hit something solid and stony. He then froze in realization. It was a flower pot.

In a panic, Flowey used all the energy he had left to lift his head over the edge of the pot, so he could look around and rested it on the edge. He looked around to see the bell jar and the lasers and cameras that surrounded it. It did not take Flowey long to figure our where he was or to recall his last memory before blacking out.

"Did ya sleep well, weed?" Flowey heard a familiar, annoying voice say.

Flowey looked past the bell jar and all the lasers and finally saw through the glass at the end of his cell to see Sans.

"Smiley trash bag," Flowey said weakly.

"You're quite a sight yourself," Sans said.

"Where am I?"

"I'll give you one guess."

"The lab."

"Bravo."

"Why?"

"To save your pathetic ass. You shouldn't thank me too much, though. It wasn't my idea. It was the kid's."

"What?" Flowey asked bolting straight-up in his pot.

"Yeah," Sans said. "I wanted to kill ya."

"How generous of you," Flowey said sarcastically while hunching over.

"It really is," Sans said darkly. "Because you deserve to die, and it's not just for trying to drown the kid. It's for everything else you did to him before."

Flowey perked up a bit more and said, "So, the little brat told on me?"

"Not exactly," Sans said. "Frisk showed us. He transferred his memories and restored our memories from previous runs with his blood. He thought it would make us let him die, but it backfired completely. Now, Frisk is getting better. No thanks to you."

"Awww. Have you developed a soft spot for him, trash bag?"

At that point, Flowey heard a deep growl. He turned to his right and saw a Gaster Blaster floating right next to him. Flowey's eyes grew large with fear, and he gasped audibly.

Sans laughed and said, "Absolutely. Unlike you, the kid has done everything he could to make up for his mistakes and driven himself crazy trying to change the world. I can't help but feel for him. Besides, Frisk's a good kid."

"You're quite forgiving to someone who killed your little brother," Flowey said coldly.

"Well, it wasn't completely his fault now was it? Who was it that manipulated an angry and confused boy into being his goddamn child soldier again?" Sans asked showing more anger than before as the Gaster Blaster inched closer to Flowey who was frozen in fear. "Who is it that tried psychologically mind-raping said kid into insanity? Most recently with his drugged nectar? Who is it that repeatedly killed monsters who befriended him just because he got bored?"

Flowey turned back to Sans and looked at him fearfully.

"Oh, yeah," Sans said in a darkly serious tone that Flowey knew well. "I know all about that too, weed, and believe me…I am pissed."

"Sans, stop!" Alphys said over the intercom. "That's enough. He needs to rest. Leave him alone."

Sans reluctantly took a deep breath and made his Gaster Blaster disappear. He then turned around and started walking away.

"What?" Flowey asked mockingly. "Don't you wanna kill me? Come on, trash bag. I know you want to! Finish me off!"

Sans turned around with a bemused smile and said, "Nah, letting you live out your days in a dark and lonely lab is better punishment. There's not much to do here either, but to sweeten the deal, I'll leave you with this. Frisk has given his soul to the Creator."

Flowey's dark heart sank inside him and he asked, "What?!"

"It's true," Sans said turning around completely to watch Flowey's face sink completely. "He's made some serious sacrifices in the process, too. And if you know anything about what the ancient scriptures say, you know that once a human gives their soul to the Almighty it can't ever be used by a monster. That kid is forever out of your reach, weed, but if you still decide to go near him, know you will have a bad time. Sweet dreams…Asriel…"

Sans shortcut away before Flowey had time to respond to the last bit. His emotions could be best described as shellshock before it became rage.

"No…" Flowey said quietly as he rested his head against the glass of the bell jar.

He then pulled his head back and softly butt it against the glass and said, "No!" again.

After a moment of silence, he did the same thing.

Then very quickly, Flowey rammed his head harder against the glass while yelling in an increasingly high volume.

"No…No…NO…NO!" Flowey screamed while ramming his face into the glass and causing more damage to his face that the glass.

Blood and bruises began showing, but Flowey would not stop. He felt the pain, but he felt the rage inside him more strongly.

"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!"

Flowey's screams echoed through the True Lab frightening the amalgams and getting the attention of Alphys.

"Flowey, what are you doing?!" Alphys asked over the intercom. "Flowey, you have to stop! You're hurting yourself!"

Flowey ignored them and continued his rampage. Meanwhile, Sans and Alphy were watching from the large monitor in the main part of the lab.

"Flowey, stop!" Alphys yelled desperately into the microphone.

"I say you should let him wear himself out," Sans said coldly. "He'll knock himself out eventually."

"You know I can't do that, Sans."

"You might have to. The weed isn't giving up."

"No, no one else will die on account of me," Alphys said pushing a button on the keyboard that released a sedative solution into Flowey's soil.

Back downstairs, Flowey's vision blurred and his movements grew weaker until he eventually curled back into his pot and fell asleep.

"There, that should keep him asleep until morning," Alphys said visibly relieved.

"Good work, doctor," Sans said. "You're a better person than I am. I should get home. I have a child to look after which reminds me…Do you have his cell phone?"

"Yes," Alphys said handing him a cell phone with all the bells and whistles along with a charger. "Tell Frisk he can use this to charge his phone, but his phone is also solar-powered."

"After all this time, you still never cease to amaze me," Sans said while Alphys was clearly hesitating about something she wanted to say. "You know. If you have something to say, you need to say it. You know I can take it."

"Two things actually," Alphys said nervously. "First, you need to talk to the queen. As evil as Flowey is, part of him is still her son. She would want to know. Besides, you can't be here all the time if you're the one looking after Frisk and Flowey might try something else…"

"I will tell her, Alphys," Sans said. "I'm just…working up the nerve. But I'll tell her soon. Okay? I promise."

"Okay."

"What was the other thing?"

"I…I analyzed the nectar inside Flowey as you requested, and you were right. He did manufacture a serum with mind-altering properties and extreme withdrawal effects, but that's not all…"

"What do you mean?"

"He stole some old magical potions from the lab storage. I don't know how he got into it, but he stole a potion created to weaken human determination magic…"

"Oh, my God. Is it still inside Frisk? Is it hurting him? Is there an antidote?!"

"That's just the thing. I'm not sure. According to Gaster's old medical journals, the potion only works temporarily. It wears off as soon as a human finds inspiration and once again reaches full-health, but until then, a human's determination will be relatively weak. Its strength directly correlates to the human's mental health state. That means it will only be out of Frisk's system completely when he can recover his HP on his own..."

Sans' face was completely downcast. He looked like he was on the verge of tears. Sans saw Frisk's fatigue in a new light.

"Cheer up, Sans," Alphys said trying to comfort him. "Y-You said he's at 11 HP, right? That means he's already well on the road to recovery. He can get through this, Sans…"

"I have to get back to him, Alphys," Sans said calmly. "I can't leave him unprotected. I'll call Toriel first thing in the morning."

"Okay. Will you be…?"

"Thanks for all your help, Alphys. Get some sleep and worry about an antidote tomorrow. You've earned it."

Sans then shortcut back to his home in Snowdin.


	44. Chapter 44

Sans teleported home as quickly as he did because he did not want Alphys to see him as distressed as he felt.

He sat down on the couch and let a few tears fall. Now, Sans had another reason to hate his father just when he finally thought that part of his life could be put to some good use…

Sans paused when he heard a noise coming from the upstairs bathroom. It sounded like singing, but it was so quiet you almost couldn't hear it. Sans could just make out the words.

"It's summertime and the livin' is easy…"

Sans got up and slowly began climbing the stairs.

"Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high…"

Sans figured out the noise was coming from the secret bathroom.

"Oh, your daddy's rich and your mom is good-lookin', so hush little baby, don't you cry…"

Sans walked over to the bathroom and adjusted the picture to open the door, but he didn't barge in right away. He looked in through the crack to see Frisk with towels wrapped around his waist and his shoulder and the key still hanging around his neck while doodling on the fogged-up glass. His hair was wet. That meant he had just showered. The washing machine was going too, so the kid was most likely naked.

"One of these mornings, you gonna rise up singin'. Yes, you'll spread your wings and take to the skies…"

Sans opened the door quietly and paused to hear the last lyric. Frisk was had drawn an eye with wings and a halo and he was drawing stick figures of a man and a woman with wings.

"But till that mornin', there's nothin' can harm you," Frisk sang quietly as he added the finishing touches on his stick figures. "With daddy and mommy standin' by…"

Frisk smiled at his work and turned around to see Sans. Frisk looked like he had been crying.

"Oh, hey," Frisk said. "What's up, Sans?"

"I might ask you the same thing," Sans said. "What are you doing doodlin' on a foggy mirror in the middle of the night with no clothes on?"

"Well…" Frisk said trying to come up with a decent lie. "I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep, so I figured I might as well shower and wash my clothes…"

Sans saw right through him, but he decided not to call him out on it. Not yet.

"What's that song you were singin'?" Sans asked.

"That was a song my Mom used to sing when I was little," Frisk said. "It's like 100 years old. I think it came from a musical."

"Your Mom sounds like she had great musical taste. You sounded good."

"I did?" Frisk asked a little self-consciously. "My parents always said I sounded good, but I've always kinda felt weird about it. My voice still sounds so babyish."

"Well, that shouldn't last for much longer. Your voice is gonna change soon."

"I know. I can't wait. Then, I'll be able to sing all the deep parts in the grunge songs."

Sans chuckled a bit to himself and said, "Okay, superstar, do you want some clothes to wear while waiting on yours to dry so you're not sitting up there in the nude?"

"That would be nice," Frisk said. "Thanks."

"I'll be right back."

Sans short cut back to his room and thought about what he was going to say to Frisk while getting his clothes. The kid had probably had a nightmare or another panic attack, but he wanted to keep it to himself instead of waking Papyrus. Frisk was stubborn like that, just like him.

The last thought made Sans shudder.

Back in the bathroom, Frisk sat and stared at the picture he doodled. To make it more complete, he doodled a picture of himself under the drawings of his parents.

He liked it. He liked it so much that he shed a tear. Frisk continued to stare at it until Sans teleported next to him with the clothes and spooked him so much that he almost crawled backwards off the dryer.

"Woah, kiddo!" Sans said grabbing Frisk's hand before he could fall. "Don't break your neck now."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to you doing that," Frisk said while he sat himself up.

"You will," Sans said letting go of his hand and putting his clothes in Frisk's lap. "Papyrus barely notices anymore. Now, put on your clothes. Believe it or not. I do not like seeing you naked."

"Fine. But you have to turn around."

"Gladly."

Sans turned around while Frisk pulled on his clothes.

Before Frisk could finish, Sans asked, "What are ya doin' up? I thought I told you to go to bed."

Frisk stood there clutching the shirt nervously and said, "I got bored. I'm not used to going to bed so early."

Sans didn't say anything until after Frisk pulled on his shirt, sat down against the mirror, and started scratching his scars.

"Kid, if you're gonna lie to me, you gotta do better than that," Sans said turning back around.

"What?" Frisk asked. "How did you know?"

"You don't think that after observing you for 40 runs I wouldn't be able to figure anything out about you," Sans said sitting down next to him. "I know you better in some ways than you know yourself at this point. Besides, you should know by now that I'm not as gullible as those cops on the surface. Why are you really awake? Did you have a bad dream?"

Frisk laid back against the mirror, sighed deeply, folded his arms, and said, "No, I had a really good dream. It was so good I woke up crying."

"What did you dream about?"

"I saw my parents again."

Sans responded with stunned silence.

Frisk closed his eyes to bring the picture to his mind and said, "I was back at the bus stop where I got off to hike on Mt. Ebott one last time, except my parents were there. I couldn't believe it. I was so happy. I didn't question how or why. We hiked up the mountain like I did before, but it was better because they were there. We walked and talked and enjoyed the scenery like we did when they were alive. I told them what I had done, but they weren't mad at me. They still loved me and told me they were proud of me…"

Frisk started choking up as tears fell from his eyes.

"I could hear their voices, Sans," Frisk said in between tears. "They sounded like they did when they were alive. Their skin and their clothes felt the same. They even smelled the same. I could smell my Mom's vanilla bean perfume. I could smell my Dad's e-cig from when he would vape. It smelled like a cappuccino. That was my favorite smell…"

Frisk opened his eyes and wiped the tears that were blinding his vision.

"Anyways, we got to the stairs going up to where I fell," he said. "But instead of turning back to go home like we normally would, we hopped the fence and climbed the stairs all the way to the top.

That was when my Dad said, 'We've had a great time, Frisk, but sadly, we have to go back.'

I started freaking out and telling them that I wanted to go with them, but they kept telling me the same thing and that they couldn't stay.

I asked why, and my Mom was like, 'There's a bunch of complicated theological and spiritual mumbo jumbo, and if we tried explaining it to ya, you would probably just get confused. But the bottom line is we're dead and you're not. You can't follow us. Not yet anyway.'

My Mom always had a funny way of explaining things.

So, I got upset and started begging them to take me with them, but my Dad picked me up and gave me a hug, like he used to do when I was sad. He was so warm. I never wanted him to let go.

He said, 'Bud, we can't take ya with us because it ain't your time yet. Our time came. We died defending you and what we believed in. We have no regrets, except for you, of course, but we're at peace. You're not. For God's sake, you've barely lived, and your heart is already so broken. Now, you've been forgiven and called to make up for your mistakes and heal and all that stuff, and you just wanna leave? You can't. You also gotta be there for the new family you've found. You can't just leave them.'

Then, I said, 'I'm not gonna replace you guys.'

My Mom's like, 'Well, duh. We ain't asking ya to do that, Frisk. We're just asking you to open your heart to new bonds. They're your family now, too. You can love them as much as you love us.'

I told them, 'No, I could never love anyone as much as I love you two.'

My Dad then lifted me above the hole and said, 'You know we hate it when you try to lie to us, Frisk. You were willing to die for them. That's the most loving thing you can do for anyone.'

I looked back at them and told them how much I still needed them, but my parents both told me…"

Frisk started getting choked up again and had to calm himself down before he said, "They both said they couldn't be there for me much anymore, even though they still loved me and watched over me every day. I had to find that love in another place.

Of course, the Almighty backed them up, and before I could ask any questions, my Dad dropped me back in the chasm, and I woke up."

Frisk wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his head on top of them.

"I don't care if you believe me or not," Frisk said. "It was them. They came to speak to me."

"I believe you, kid," Sans said honestly.

Frisk looked back at his drawing and said, "I still need them, Sans. How do I keep living without them?"

Sans looked at him not knowing what to say but understanding exactly how he was feeling. Sans reached into his pocket and reluctantly pulled out the bottle of sleeping pills.

"I got this from Alphys, too," Sans said showing the bottle to Frisk.

Frisk stretched out his legs again, and he read the label on the bottle of pills.

"Alphys got me sleeping pills?" he asked.

"Yep," Sans replied. "She knows about your issues and manufactured this in case your stress kept you awake. I didn't want to use it unless it was necessary, but now, it looks like it might be."

"Do you want me to take the meds?"

"I want you to be able to rest and feel better. I don't want your brain to keep you up all night. God knows mine has before."

Frisk unscrewed the bottle, took a pill, and said, "Okay, I trust you."

That last sentence shook Sans to his core. He didn't deserve him. If only, he knew…

Sans sat in silence while Frisk swallowed the pill, screwed the lid back on the bottle, and handed the container back to Sans.

"I'm gonna take you to see a psychologist before I think about giving you any more medication," Sans said. "I don't like pumping you up with meds like this."

The meds seemed to start taking effect almost immediately because Frisk quickly fell against Sans' shoulder.

"Hey, kiddo," Sans said. "Why don't you go back to bed?"

"I can't," Frisk said. "My clothes are almost done being washed. I have to wait until I can put them in the dryer, so I can have them for training tomorrow. I just have to wait until they're done."

In one motion, Sans pulled his coat off, placed Frisk on his lap so that he was leaning against his chest, and laid his coat on top of him.

"Why do you have to be so damn mature and responsible?" Sans asked. "It's annoying."

"It's not like I've had much of a choice," Frisk said in an amused tone. "Besides, I don't want to be a burden on anyone. I like pulling my own weight…"

Unexpectedly, Sans wrapped his arms around his body and held Frisk snugly against him.

"God, you're starting to act like your brother," Frisk said in response.

Sans didn't say anything but looked at him and started rubbing his hair.

"Summertime, and the livin' is easy," Sans sang. "The fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high."

His voice was tenor. It took Frisk aback. That was how his Dad's voice used to sound when he sang.

Sans kept singing, "Oh, your Daddy's rich, and your Mom is good-lookin', so hush, little baby, don't you cry."

Frisk shut his eyes and relaxed. Sans' voice was oddly soothing. He heard Sans doodling on the mirror and opened his eyes to see that on either side of his drawing of himself he had drawn stick figures of himself and Papyrus.

"One of these mornings, you're gonna rise up singin'," Sans sang looking back at him and pointing to Frisk's drawing of himself. "Yes, you'll spread your wings and you'll take to the skies…"

Then pointing to the stick figures of himself and Papyrus, Sans sang, "But till that mornin', there's nothin' can harm you. Yes, with Daddy and Mommy standin' by."

Frisk laid there in stunned silence for a moment before his weary eyes filled to brim with tears and he gave Sans the tightest hug he had ever given him.

"I love you," Frisk said quietly.

"I know," Sans said holding him back. "I love you, too."

Frisk smiled, and his HP rose by another point. Sans' heart was so warmed that he felt his HP raise, too.

"How well did I sing it?" Sans asked finally allowing Frisk to get back to how he was lying before. "I thought it wasn't bad for a first performance."

"You did great, but there's one thing I don't understand," Frisk said shutting his eyes again. "Why'd you make Papyrus the Mom?"

Sans giggled quietly to himself.

"It's because I'm the best Mom ever!" Papyrus said suddenly bursting into the bathroom.

"Pap, how long have you been out there?" Sans asked.

"Since you got in the bathroom actually," Papyrus said. "I noticed Frisk was missing, so I came to investigate and heard everything! Sans, I'm so proud of you. You're being sweet instead of sarcastic and annoying. You're being a great big brother."

Sans felt touched and said, "Thanks, bro. That means a lot."

He looked down and noticed that Frisk was still not opening his eyes.

"Hey, Frisk?" Sans asked.

"Papyrus," Frisk said barely conscious. "Is it alright if we wait to go out in the morning so I have time to get my clothes dried? I don't think I can do it tonight."

"That's fine," Papyrus said. "That's no problem at all."

Frisk smiled and fell asleep on Sans' lap. Then before Sans knew what was happening, Papyrus scooped him and the sleeping child up in his arms.

"Come on," Papyrus said turning off the bathroom like and walking back to his room. "Let's go sleep in my room."

"Pap, there's not enough room in your bed," Sans said.

"Nonsense," Papyrus said as he shut his door behind him and climbed back into bed with his brothers still in his arms. "There's plenty of room for everyone, Sans."

Papyrus pulled the covers over everyone and quickly went back to sleep.

Papyrus was right. There was just enough room for everyone to fit. Sans had to admit he was cozy.

Before he went to sleep himself, Sans sent out one more text message on his phone to Toriel this time telling her that they needed to talk in the morning.


	45. Chapter 45

Frisk woke up the next morning bright and early. Wearily, he looked down at his arms and saw that they had been rebandaged. He rolled over and saw that Papyrus was still sleeping, but Sans was not there.

That was strange.

Frisk climbed out of bed and walked over to Sans' room to see if he was in there. Unfortunately, the door was locked. Fortunately for Frisk, that was not an obstacle if he had the right equipment.

Frisk quietly ran down the stairs to search for "equipment" in the kitchen, but upon entering the kitchen, he saw that Sans had left a note on the kitchen table.

Frisk picked it up and read, "Dear Papyrus and Frisk, I had to go talk to Toriel about some things, mostly about getting Frisk's adoption papers. I'll be back later. Papyrus, until I get back, you're in charge. Frisk, listen to him and do not wander off by yourself. Don't forget to take your iron tablet. Love ya both, Sans. P.S. Alphys fixed your phone, kiddo. You'll find it charging in the upstairs bathroom."

Frisk squealed internally with joy and ran upstairs to find his new phone. The first thing he did when he found it was to enter Napstablook's number and start texting him.

Once he finished all his business in the upstairs bathroom, Frisk walked back to Papyrus' room with his book in one hand and his phone in the other to see if his older brother was awake yet. Surprisingly, upon opening the door, he was still asleep.

Enjoying the silence too much to bother him, Frisk started walking downstairs but paused when an idea crossed his mind. He placed his things on the floor and walked over to the bookshelf in Papyrus' room. In the dim light, Frisk searched to see if Papyrus had any of the ancient scriptures in his book collection.

His parents would wake up early to meditate on the ancient scriptures and pray. They told them it helped them get in touch with the Divine and clear their minds and that sort of thing. At any rate, it gave Frisk something to do while waiting for Papyrus to wake up and for his clothes to dry.

Frisk found the book quickly and carried it along with his other items downstairs. He climbed on the couch and started reading the book. It had been a while since Frisk had attended a place of worship or even read the book for himself. He would read it in the libraries sometimes, but for Frisk, that felt like a lifetime ago.

Logically, he started at the beginning when the Almighty created humans and monsters, each different but all equally valuable and destined to live in harmony…

After reading for a while, Frisk felt adequately inspired and closed his eyes to pray and meditate.

It was difficult, but he did it how his parents had explained it to him. Frisk kept his eyes shut, pushed out his conflicting thoughts as much as he could, and spoke to God while waiting for His responses in the silence.

When Frisk opened his eyes again, he felt inspired and his soul felt uplifted. Frisk checked his phone to see how much time had passed, but it had only been 20 minutes.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Frisk said quietly laying back on the couch. "Why is time moving so slow right now? God, are you trying to teach me patience or something?"

As if an answer to prayer, Napstablook texted back.

"How are you doing today, Frisk?" Napstablook texted. "I'm glad you finally have a phone. I'm also really glad the skeleton didn't kill you."

Frisk smiled widely and replied,"No, he was just mad that I left to find Undyne by myself. I've got anemia, so my HP isn't high enough to fight monsters yet. But it's all good now. I'm just grounded. I can't leave to explore the rest of the Underground until Sans says I'm not grounded anymore."

"Okay. I'm sorry I ran away when you were getting in trouble. I got scared."

"It's okay. I didn't think ghosts got scared."

"You'd think that but no. Ghosts get scared, too."

Frisk was thoughtful for a moment before he replied, "I know what you mean. Other monsters have always been afraid of me, but I've always been more afraid of them. I wasn't always nice to them, though, so I guess I brought that on myself."

"I'm curious. How old are you?" Napstablook replied.

"10."

"Why are you wandering around by yourself? You're just a kid."

"That's a really long story. You wanna hear about it? I have time to kill."

"Sure."

Frisk summed up his life story for him as well as he could.

When he was done, Napstablook replied, "Wow. I'm sorry. You've had such a sad life. I feel bad now for feeling so bad about myself."

"You're depressed," Frisk said. "That's hard, too. There's no need to beat yourself up."

"I suppose not. Do you have a place to live?"

"Yeah, Sans and Papyrus have adopted me. Sans said he's getting the paperwork today. I guess that's why he's not here. Hopefully, other monsters will leave me alone once it's official."

"So, you're living down here? You're never going back to the surface?"

"Well, Undyne and Papyrus said they would take me back up, so I could get my backpack, but then I'm coming back down for good."

"Don't you have any friends up there?"

"I have one. Her name is Varda, but I don't think she could ever visit me down here. I'll just have to call her."

"Maybe she could one day. She might be nice to us like you."

"Maybe. But dude, I can't wait to get my Dad's mp3 player back from my backpack. When I have it back, I'm going to your house to listen to it with you. You'll love grunge."

"I've heard some of it before. CD's wash down here sometimes."

"I'll show you all of it. My Dad's mp3 player is a big, old-fashioned one that came out before I was born, so it has like over 10,000 songs on it. You will get to hear so much grunge!"

"I can't wait. When are you going?"

"Whenever my HP goes back to normal and I start feeling better in the head. At least, that's what Sans said."

Frisk's stomach growled in hunger, and he replied, "I have to go find some food, Napstablook. I think I'll go into town and snatch some of those cinnamon roll things for me and Papyrus. See ya later."

"Won't Sans get mad at you for leaving the house?" Napstablook asked. "Besides, aren't you broke?"

Frisk thought for a second and replied, "Sans doesn't have to know, but you're right. I need to find some money."

Frisk looked around the kitchen, the den, and the upstairs bathroom, but there was no money to be found and he didn't want to risk waking Papyrus.

Frisk got out his phone and texted Napstablook again.

"I can't find money anywhere," Frisk texted as he collapsed back on the couch. "And I can't go out and fight monsters to earn more. What do I do? I'm so hungry."

"You could see what's in the fridge," Napstablook replied.

"Oh, yeah."

Frisk made his way to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Inside he found lots of fruits, vegetables, cans of tomato sauce, some milk, the orange juice he started drinking yesterday, eggs, leftovers, and…

Frisk's lips curled into a smile as he took out his orange juice to take his iron pill. He had an idea.

Frisk thought as he sat at the table, twisted open the bottle, swallowed an iron pill, and washed it down with orange juice.

He then picked up his phone and texted Napstablook, "Napstablook, I have the best idea ever! I'll make breakfast for Sans and Papyrus. They'll be so surprised."

"That is very sweet of you," Napstablook said. "But do you know how to cook?"

Frisk paused to remember for a moment before he replied, "I remember helping my Mom make eggs one time. It shouldn't be too hard."

"Good luck."

Frisk ran to the downstairs bathroom to wash his hands and then got the eggs out of the fridge.


	46. Chapter 46

Papyrus came out of his room feeling refreshed and ready for action, but a bit concerned since he did not know where his little brother went. But the first smell that came through his nose hole and the sound of a spatula scraping against a frying pan gave him a good clue.

"Frisk?" Papyrus asked himself suspiciously as he walked down the stairs. "Frisk, what are you doing?"

Papyrus walked into the kitchen to see Frisk sitting in a chair surrounded by dirty bowls using a spatula to get his fried eggs off the pan they were stuck on. Something was in the oven…something that smelled interesting…

Frisk's eyes met Papyrus' eye sockets and he said, "Good morning, Papyrus! I'm making breakfast, but I've had trouble getting these eggs out of the pan. Could you help me out?"

"No problem, Frisk," Papyrus said picking up the pan and using the spatula to chisel the eggs to freedom. "I, the Great Papyrus, can help you with any of your cooking. By the way, what's that cooking in the oven?"

"Oh," Frisk said grabbing oven-mitts off the counter beside the stove and pulling them on before he opened the over door. "I almost forgot. I thought eggs wouldn't be enough, so I decided to make muffins…Uh, Papyrus, I think they turned out wrong…"

"What do you mean?" Papyrus said walking over and crouching down to look at the muffins. "I'm sure you did just…WOAH!"

The muffins did not look like muffins. The dough had risen together to form a giant orange-brown and blue-spotted mega-muffin being supported by the little muffins in the muffin tray. Papyrus was crying tears of joy.

"Oh, my God," Papyrus said happily tossing aside the eggs. "This is beautiful. I can't believe how much I've inspired you."

"You like it?" Frisk asked in surprise as Papyrus turned off the oven and carried Frisk's creation out.

"Yes, you've picked up on my cooking skills and I couldn't be any prouder," Papyrus said putting the mega-muffin on the kitchen table and proudly taking pictures with his phone. "You make your big brother so happy."

"But it looks so weird…" Frisk said.

"No, it looks completely original. Tell me. What ingredients did you add to make it look this way?"

"Well, it was originally a recipe I found on the Undernet, but there weren't enough ingredients, so I had to improvise…"

"What did you do?"

"Well, I added orange juice and lots of yeast to spread the recipe out more, so that there would be enough food for everybody…"

"Brilliant! I need to remember that for the future, but why is it blue?"

"Oh, I put blueberries in them. They were supposed to be blueberry muffins."

"This mega-muffin is so much cooler! I should let you cook more often."

"Thanks. I like that name."

"Me, too."

"Hey, guys!" Sans said shortcutting into the den and walking into the kitchen. "How's it go-…?"

Sans saw the mega-muffin and immediately lost his train of thought.

"What is that?" Sans asked with a very confused expression on his face.

"It's a blueberry mega-muffin," Papyrus said proudly. "Frisk made it for breakfast. Isn't it amazing?"

"I tried to make it look like the recipe on the Undernet, but it didn't exactly work out," Frisk said.

"Don't say that, Frisk," Papyrus said rubbing Frisk's head in support. "It turned out even better. It looks great! You should help me cook from now on. What do you think, Sans?"

Frisk smiled at Papyrus while Sans looked at the monstrous pastry in concern. If Frisk cooked anything like Papyrus, this pastry would be more than a little hard to swallow.

Picking up on his concerned facial expression, Frisk asked, "Sans, are you okay? You don't have to eat this if you don't want to…"

"Oh, he's just too happy to speak," Papyrus said. "He gets like this when I cook sometimes. He is happy to eat your food…"

"Are you sure about that?" Frisk asked.

"Sure am, kid," Sans lied nervously.

"Whatever you say," Frisk replied.

"Nyeh heh heh," Papyrus said going back to the cupboards to get glasses ad plates. "I'll go set the table. You two can sit down."

"Thanks for the phone," Frisk said taking his seat.

"No problem, kiddo," Sans said taking his seat.

"What did Toriel say?"

"She said she'd get the papers together, and Pap and I could sign them by the end of the day. She's alright with you living with us, but she had a few conditions…"

Frisk's heart fluttered nervously.

"What kind of conditions?" Frisk asked fearfully.

"She wants the right to check on you whenever she wants as a co-guardian, and she wants to be your tutor to catch you up with school," Sans replied.

"Oh," Frisk said in relief. "That's fine."

"I have a condition, too," Sans said. "You have to apologize to her. I know you weren't in the best psychological state when you wrote that suicide note, but you still scared her and left her with more questions than answers. You need to talk to her and make things right. Okay?"

Frisk started scratching the bandages on his arms and looked down fearfully.

"Hey," Sans said gently while Papyrus set the plates and glasses down and filled the latter with orange juice. "She ain't mad at ya, kid. She's just worried. I keep telling her you're alright, but I don't think she will believe that completely until she sees you herself. You just need to let her know you're going to be alright. You won't be by yourself either. We'll be there, too. Okay?"

Frisk stopped scratching his bandages, looked up confidently, and said, "Okay, I can do that."

Papyrus slid into his chair and said, "Let's dig in! We don't want to keep Undyne waiting. We have a lot of training to do, and I'm so excited!"

"Got it," Frisk said grabbing a piece of his mega-muffin. "I also made eggs. I don't know where Papyrus threw them, but you can have them if you can get them off the pan."

"Great," Sans said with as much enthusiasm as he could muster.

"Come on, Sans," Papyrus said grabbing a piece of the mega-muffin for himself. "You grab a piece, too. We're gonna need help to finish this."

"Alright, bro," Sans said reluctantly grabbing a piece while praying that Frisk was a better cook than his brother.


	47. Chapter 47

After breakfast, Frisk changed back into his normal clothes, and he and Papyrus went riding with the ferryman on the river to Undyne's house.

"I can't believe Sans actually liked the mega-muffin," Frisk said.

"Oh, yeah," Papyrus said clutching his basket. "That mega-muffin was sweet and unexpectedly tangy. I can't wait to give a piece to Undyne."

"Beware of the man who speaks in hands," the ferryman said.

"What does that mean?" Frisk allowed himself to finally ask out loud.

"Oh, he always says things like that," Papyrus replied. "I don't worry about it too much."

Frisk looked at the mysterious, hooded figure trying to get a glimpse of his face. Something about his voice wasn't right and he wanted to get a closer look, but before he could get a good look, they arrived at their destination in Waterfall.

Papyrus stepped off the boat and onto the shore, but Frisk lingered and kept staring at the ferryman until he felt Papyrus' gloved hand grab his wrist.

"Come on, Frisk," Papyrus said. "It's rude to stare. Sorry, Mr. Ferryman. My little brother was a homeless orphan for three years, so he's kind of socially awkward."

Papyrus pulled Frisk away as he turned his head back and tried to catch a glimpse of the ferryman before he was out of sight.

"Stop staring, Frisk," Papyrus said. "God, you're so rude."

"Papyrus, have you ever seen the ferryman's face?" Frisk said looking forward at him.

"No, he generally doesn't like to show his face."

"Something was off about him, but I can't explain what it is. His voice was somehow different."

"Now that you mention it, his voice did sound a bit strange. Maybe he's got a cold. Oh well, it doesn't matter. I hope you're ready to work out, Frisk, because this will get intense!"

Unbeknownst to either of them, the Ferryman lingered on the shore and watched them until they were out of sight.

Once they were gone, the Ferryman gave out an excited laugh and said, "So, my theory about you was right. You were a homeless orphan. Oh, my poor little darling boy, don't worry. Very soon, I'll make it all better…"


	48. Chapter 48

Papyrus and Frisk were soon in Undyne's training yard in front of her house ready to get to work.

"Alright, punk!" Undyne yelled while Papyrus stood on the sidelines ready to contribute when Undyne needed him. "Are you ready for the training of a lifetime?"

"I guess," Frisk said nervously.

"That's not good enough!" Undyne yelled. "How much do you really want this? Do you want to be strong enough to continue your journey? Do you want to increase your HP so you're back at full health? Do you want to get your Dad's mp3 player back?"

"Yes…"

"THEN SCREAM IT TOWARDS THE HEAVENS! LET ME KNOW THAT YOU WANT TO GET STRONGER AND YOU WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET IT! NOW, PUNK, ARE YOU READY FOR THE TRAINING OF A LIFETIME?"

"YES!" Frisk yelled as loudly as he could.

"That's it," Undyne said with a smile. "Now, hit me as hard as you can!"

Frisk's eyes flashed with panic as he asked, "What?"

"You heard me, punk," Undyne said. "Hit me right now as hard as you can. I want to evaluate your strength."

Frisk's eyes darted back and forth fearfully between Undyne and Papyrus. His heartbeat got faster, and bad flashbacks started coming to his mind.

"Frisk, are you…?" Papyrus started to ask.

"I can't do it," Frisk said quietly.

"What?" Undyne asked.

"I can't do it," Frisk said in a panic. "Every time I hit someone, they get hurt. I can't risk killing you."

"Don't worry, Frisk," Papyrus said walking behind him and putting his hand on his shoulder. "Your combat power is not as high as it was back then. You won't hurt Undyne."

"Yeah, kid," Undyne said with a smile. "I'll be fine."

Frisk saw her smile, took a deep breath, and said nervously, "Okay, I'll try."

"Okay, punk," Undyne said. "Show me what you've got."

He held his hand by his waist as his parents had taught him to, walked up to Undyne, and punched her as hard as he could. Frisk's heart dropped with the return of his nightmarish memories when he saw her HP go down by one point.

"Not bad, punk…" Undyne said feeling pleasantly surprised by his strength.

"I'M SORRY!" Frisk yelled at the top of his lungs. "I'm sorry! Please don't die!"

"Frisk, I'm standing right here. You haven't hurt me. It was only one hit."

"One hit was all it took before."

Undyne froze as she realized what he was talking about. Papyrus stood on the sidelines not knowing what to do while Frisk looked down, stared sadly at the ground, and started hyperventilating from the nightmare he was reliving.

As Frisk's breaths grew shallower and sharper, the memories grew clearer. He could see Undyne right in front of him. He could see her as the Undying. He could see her final smile...

Frisk's memory was interrupted as he slowly grew aware that Undyne had fallen on her knees and wrapped her arms around him.

"You don't need to go back there, punk," Undyne said as gently as she could. "Stay in the present. That's where we are."

Frisk hugged her back, and Papyrus knelt and hugged Frisk from behind. Slowly, Frisk's breathing grew deeper and he started to calm down.

When Frisk's breathing had returned to normal, his two friends finally let him go.

"I'm sorry," Frisk said. "I can't fight anymore. I can't do anything. I can't risk hurting anyone else, but I don't know how else to stop myself from getting killed. I mean, when I fought Aaron, I started a flexing contest to get his mind off fighting, but I still got hurt because I couldn't avoid all his attacks. I can't even create a save file or reset in case I die. What am I supposed to do?"

Papyrus didn't know what to say, but Undyne got an idea.

"It seems to me like you're afraid of danger, punk," Undyne said. "That is unacceptable for a royal guard and for you. You can't act if you get scared. We need to help you face your fears."

"How do we do that?" Frisk asked.

"Don't worry, Frisk," Undyne said with a big toothy grin. "I have a plan. Papyrus, do you know how to drive a boat?"

"Uh, not really…" Papyrus replied.

"Perfect!" Undyne yelled as she left her front yard. "Follow me, you two. We're going to rent some supplies."

"Oooh," Papyrus said excitedly as he and his little brother followed behind her. "Is this going to help Frisk get over his fears?"

"If this doesn't work, nothing else will," Undyne replied.

"What exactly are we doing, Undyne?" Frisk asked.

"What did I say about worrying, punk?" Undyne chided. "You'll be filled in once I get everything together."


	49. Chapter 49

Undyne, Papyrus, and Frisk were standing at the deck outside of the boat rental store. It was their last errand. Frisk and Papyrus still had little to no idea what was happening, but Undyne was grinning from ear to ear.

"Alright, boys," Undyne said. "We're ready."

"Undyne, what exactly are we doing?" Papyrus asked.

"Exactly, what I said before, we're going to help Frisk get over his fears," Undyne replied. "Now, Frisk, you have an extreme amount of fear in your head, and to face it, we're going to do the most extreme things I know how to do. First, we will be doing: TWO PERSON EXTREME WATERSKIING!"

"So, that's why we're wearing wet suits?" Frisk asked.

"Yep," Undyne said. "Think of this as danger exposure therapy!"

"How will that help Frisk?" Papyrus asked.

"Great question," Undyne said. "Simple, the calmer he is in this extreme and dangerous situation, the calmer he'll be when he's training, and the calmer he'll be under stress when he's facing an enemy. Papyrus' driving will only make it better. What do you think?"

"I'm not so sure about this," Frisk said skeptically.

"Yeah," Papyrus said. "Frisk is still anemic. What if he gets hurt?"

"That won't happen," Undyne said before slapping a football helmet onto Frisk's head. "There, now, he's plenty safe. Satisfied?"

"Okay!" Papyrus said excitedly climbing into the boat.

"If you say so," Frisk said allowing Undyne to pick him up and put him on her shoulders before she strapped on her skis and grabbed the handle on the back of the line attached to the boat.

"Papyrus, I'm waiting," Undyne said standing on the deck in her skis. "What's the hold-up?"

"I can't seem to figure out how to turn it on," Papyrus said. "Do you know how?"

"For the love of…Papyrus, turn the key!"

"Oh, okay!"

Papyrus turned the key and the boat roared to life. He sat on his chair and prepared to drive for the first time in his life.

"Hey, Undyne?" Frisk asked. "Shouldn't I have a life preserver?"

"Punk, I am the life preserver," Undyne replied.

Papyrus stepped on the gas, and Undyne and Frisk were immediately pulled off the deck and into the water.

Frisk wrapped his arms around Undyne's head to stay on top. He had never been waterskiing before, but he was determined to, at least, give it a shot. For the first few minutes, it wasn't so bad. It was kind of nice to get to see Waterfall go by like this, and overall, it felt peaceful.

Then Undyne yelled, "PAPYRUS, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WHY ARE WE GOING SO DAMN SLOW?!"

"I'm going as fast as I can while obeying the speed limit, Undyne," Papyrus replied.

"Speed Limits?! PAPYRUS, WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT LIMITING YOURSELF?"

"Uh! Not to?!"

"EXACTLY! NOW SPEED UP THIS RIDE SO WE CAN HELP THIS LITTLE PUNK GET OVER HIS FEAR OF DANGER!"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

"Undyne," Frisk said timidly. "Are you sure this is such a good id-AHHHH!"

Frisk didn't get to finish his sentence, because Papyrus floored the boat as quickly as he could. The wind rushed through his hair and against his face. It was all he could do to hold onto Undyne's head as their surroundings turned into a blur.

"Undyne?!" Frisk said barely audibly above the rushing air and the sound of the motor.

"PAPYRUS, WHY ARE YOU DRIVING IN A STRAIGHT LINE?!" Undyne yelled. "THIS IS NOT AN OLD GRANNIES' BOAT RIDE! I WANNA SEE SOME TURNS AND CIRCLES, MISTER!"

"But isn't that dangerous?!" Papyrus yelled back.

"EXACTLY!"

"Oh, you got it! I hope I don't run into anything!"

Much to Frisk's chagrin, Papyrus started driving the boat in zig zag lines along the river at speeds even faster than before. Thankfully, no one was in their way, but Frisk knew this couldn't be the case for long.

"UNDYNE, STOP!" Frisk yelled shutting his eyes. "WE COULD DIE!"

"EXACTLY" Undyne replied. "ISN'T IT AMAZING?!"

"NO, IT SUCKS! I WANT IT TO STOP!"

"THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S GOING TO, PUNK! IN YOUR LIFE, YOU WILL ENCOUNTER SUCKY, OR MAYBE EVEN, DANGEROUS SITUATIONS THAT YOU CAN'T STOP WHENEVER YOU WANT TO, AND THAT'S OKAY! YOU CAN STILL ENDURE THEM AND FACE THEM DOWN! THAT'S WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO NOW, PUNK!"

"BUT WE COULD STILL DIE!"

"GOD COULD STRIKE YOU DOWN IN YOUR BED TONIGHT! IT DOESN'T MATTER AS LONG AS YOU FACE YOUR LIFE WITH NO FEAR! NOW, OPEN YOUR EYES!"

Frisk grimaced and gripped her head tighter.

"Do I have to?!" Frisk asked.

"YES, PUNK!" Undyne yelled. "Let your eyes see the danger!"

"If you say so," Frisk said as he slowly allowed his eyes to slip open and take in his surroundings.

Papyrus was still driving around like a maniac. The world around was still a blur. Frisk was also pretty sure he was about to throw up, but he slowly started feeling something calm inside him.

It was a calm in the chaos. It no longer feared the imminent threats outside him. It was a peace beyond his comprehension that came from the One inside him and slowly spread throughout his soul until He was sure Frisk knew that he was going to be okay. Whatever happened.

When that happened, Frisk smiled and started to let himself enjoy the event. His HP rose by one point.

"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT, PUNK!" Undyne commented when she saw his HP raise. "GREAT JOB!"

"Hey, Undyne?!" Frisk asked. "I'm tired of spinning in circles! Could we go to other places?! Like Snowdin?!"

"NOW, YOU'RE TALKIN'!" Undyne replied. "PAPYRUS, TAKE THE BOAT TO SNOWDIN!"

"OKAY!" Papyrus said as he stopped spinning the boat and started going in a straight line again. "WHICH WAY IS SNOWDIN?! I'M REALLY DIZZY RIGHT NOW."

"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT COMPLAINING, PAPYRUS?!"

"BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE I'M GOING!"

"JUST DRIVE STRAIGHT UNTIL WE KNOW WHERE WE ARE! WE CAN ALWAYS TURN AROUND!"

"OKAY, BUT THE WATERWAYS ARE GETTING NARROWER!"

"NO EXCUSES, PAPYRUS! KEEP DRIVING!"


	50. Chapter 50

Papyrus eventually figured out where Snowdin was. The river opened from its narrow passageways in Waterfall to into a wider river in the valley surrounded by the snow-covered mountains, forests, and little towns that made up Snowdin on either side of the river.

Frisk's hands and feet were freezing in the cold weather, but he didn't care. His eyes were too large with wonder, and his heart was too warmed by the beauty he finally let them see.

"Are you enjoying yourself?!" Undyne asked.

"Yeah!" Frisk yelled excitedly. "I've never seen all of Snowdin before! It's gorgeous!"

"Why didn't you walk through it on your other runs?!" Undyne asked curiously.

Frisk pondered for a moment and said, "I…I didn't think about it the first time. The other times…I don't know. I guess maybe I didn't think I deserved it."

Undyne paused.

"I'm not sure exactly what that means," Frisk said sadly. "But it's the first thing that popped into my brain. It kinda makes sense…to me anyway."

Undyne reflected thoughtfully for another moment and said, "Enjoy the view, punk! You deserve to now!"

Frisk felt his HP go up as he smiled in response.

"NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus yelled. "Our therapy is working!"

"Yeah," Frisk said. "But can we go back to Waterfall now?! I'm losing all the feeling in my hands and feet!"

"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT DEALING WITH YOUR WEAKNESSES, PUNK?!" Undyne yelled.

"NO, UNDYNE!" Papyrus yelled. "Humans die if they get too cold! Sans told me so last night!"

Undyne said, "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SO EARLIER?! GET US BACK TO WATERFALL, PAPYRUS!"

"Wait," Frisk said. "How does Sans know that?!"

"I'm not sure!" Papyrus replied. "He hasn't told me! He knows a lot about science and he used to work in a lab with our Dad, so maybe he learned about humans there! We'll have to ask him later!"

"Okay," Frisk said his curiosity satisfied for the moment.

After several rough turns, Papyrus turned the boat around and drove back towards Waterfall.

About 30 minutes later, Sans was taking a coffee break and walking by the river while he was on the phone with Toriel.

"Thanks again for getting all these papers together, Toriel," Sans said. "Are you sure you're still okay with this? Especially knowing all you do now…?"

"Sans," Toriel said. "Knowing all I do now, I think living with you is the best thing for Frisk. He needs strong men in his life. Besides, he looks up to you more than he does me or anyone else. You're the one he loves and needs the most…"

"That's what scares me. He idolizes me, but I am going to fail him one day."

"Come on, Sans. You're not getting cold feet. Are you?"

Sans smiled at the pun and said, "That was great."

"You've raised one little brother, Sans," Toriel said. "I know you'll be able to take care of Frisk and keep him loved and out of danger, too."

"Thanks, Toriel," Sans said. "Your encouragement means a lot to…"

"HEY, SANS!" Sans heard Papyrus yell at the top of his lungs.

Sans turned around to see Undyne riding water skis backwards with Frisk on her shoulders and Papyrus driving the boat and about to pass him.

"HEY, SANS!" Frisk yelled. "I'M IN SO MUCH DANGER RIGHT NOW! THIS FEELS AMAZING! I ALSO CAN'T FEEL MY TOES!"

"CHECK IT OUT, SANS!" Papyrus yelled proudly. "I'M DRIVING WITH MY FEET!"

"BEST THERAPY EVER!" Undyne screamed excitedly.

"YEAH!" Frisk and Undyne yelled together as the boat finally passed by.

Sans stood there dumbfounded for a moment and squeezed the coffee in his hand while he listened to Toriel say, "Sans? Sans? Are you still there? Was that Frisk? What was he doing?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna need to call you back," Sans said breaking his shocked silence.

"Wh-?" Toriel asked before Sans ended the call and started sprinting after the boat.

"Papyrus!" Sans yelled in a panic when he was finally close enough for them to hear. "Get your hands on the steering wheel right now before I give you the boot!"

"WHAT'S THAT, SANS?!" Papyrus yelled. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU! CHECK IT OUT! NOW, I'M DRIVING WITH MY BUTT! I'M THE BEST DRIVER EVER!"

"WOOOOOO!" Frisk yelled.

Sans short cut onto the boat, moved Papyrus over by his soul, and slowed the boat down until it stopped.

"Hey!" Undyne yelled as she and Frisk slowed down and fell into the water.

Sans quickly pulled Frisk out by his soul while Undyne swam over and climbed up on the boat.

"What the hell, Sans?" Undyne asked in annoyance.

"Yeah, what gives?" Papyrus asked.

After lowering Frisk onto the boat and putting his coat on him, Sans collapsed on him in relief, in turn, causing Frisk to lose his balance and fall on the floor with him on top of him.

"Sans!" Frisk said in annoyance. "What's up with you? Get off me!"


	51. Chapter 51

About ten seconds later…

"You better have an explanation for this, Sans," Undyne growled.

"Yeah, Sans. Are you alright?" Papyrus asked while Undyne fumed in the driver's chair.

"Sans, seriously, get off me!" Frisk said as he continued to wriggle his way out from under Sans.

"Kiddo, I do not have the organs or the patience for you to give me a heart attack," Sans said without moving. "What were you thinking?"

Sans finally sat up and allowed Frisk to sit up.

Frisk struggled to remove his football helmet with his numb fingers and said, "It was Undyne's idea, and she said it was safe."

"Duh," Undyne chimed in as he finally got the football helmet off his head. "We were perfectly safe."

"Yeah," Papyrus said.

Sans sighed, took Frisk's hands, started using the little healing magic abilities he had to thaw them, and said, "Look at you, Frisk. You're workin' with finger-sickles here. I think it's time we call it a day."

"Yeah," Frisk said. "They started losing feeling about half an hour ago…Wait! Why do we have to stop?! Undyne said she wanted to do some more training…"

"Uh, Undyne's going to call it a day, too…" Sans said.

"WHAT ARE YA TALKING ABOUT?!" Undyne yelled. "I had a whole day of extreme sports planned. It's only about noon. His HP went up by 2 points from just water skiing. Think of how much higher his HP could go!"

"What are we doing next, Undyne?" Papyrus asked as he knelt to thaw out Frisk's toes.

"Two words, boys," Undyne said. "EXTREME HANG GLIDING!"

Frisk and Papyrus' eyes grew wide with excitement. Sans' pupils dilated in terror.

"Undyne?" Sans asked nervously. "Where are you hang gliding from?"

"Only from the tallest mountain in Snowdin," Undyne said excitedly.

"Oh, man!" Frisk said. "I've never been hang gliding before!"

"I know, right?" Papyrus said. "This is gonna be so cool!"

Sans grimaced and said, "Undyne, this is a bad idea."

"What?" Undyne asked. "Why? It's working. Isn't it?"

Sans sighed deeply and said, "Undyne, you know that little kid that follows you around sometimes?"

"Yeah."

"Would you be doing things like this with him?"

"Hell, no!" Undyne said rubbing Frisk's head. "But Frisk is a tough guy. He can handle it. Besides, he can use his determination to get better."

Frisk smiled back at her.

Sans sighed again. He had to tell them the truth.

"Okay, I don't know how else to say this," Sans said. "Frisk, there's poison in you."

Papyrus' and Undyne's faces froze in shock.

Frisk's heart sank as he replied, "What? What are you talking about?"

"It was in Flowey's nectar," Sans said sadly. "It's something a past royal scientist made to weaken determination in humans. The only way to counteract it is for the human-in-question to rebuild his HP on his own…"

"How?" Papyrus asked sitting down in the boat with his heart clearly crushed having finally healed Frisk's toes. "How could he be so mean? Is Frisk going to survive?"

"I should have killed that little weed myself when I had the chance…" Undyne said gripping the side of the boat very tightly.

"Am I going to die?" Frisk interrupted looking Sans in the eyes.

"No, no, everyone, stop," Sans said to calm everyone down. "He'll live. Frisk has been recovering his HP on his own. That's why he's getting better, but until he recovers completely, Frisk is vulnerable because he can't use his determination. That's why you can't do this right now. It's too risky."

"I understand," Undyne said. "We'll stick to fighting on the ground."

"Thanks," Sans replied. "That's all I ask."

Sans looked at Frisk and Papyrus. He could tell they were both feeling bad.

"Hey!" Sans said to them both while still trying to heal Frisk's hands. "Hey, guys! It's going to be alright. Frisk is at 14 HP. He's gonna get better. You don't need to worry. Cheer up! Today's a good day. Frisk, you're going to officially be a member of the family. Papyrus, you and I will be legally his brothers. It'll be great! Everything's gonna be fine. Okay?"

Papyrus looked at him, smiled, picked up Frisk, sat him in his lap, grabbed onto his hands, and said, "Okay. Sans, allow me. I'm better at this than you are."

"Way to rub it in," Sans said before he noticed that Frisk was still sulking. "Kiddo, are you okay?"

"I'm so damn sick of being weak," Frisk complained. "I hate to be helpless. I want to fight with you guys."

"It won't be forever, tough guy," Sans said rubbing his head. "Just until you're better. Point is, for now, that you need to take it easy and try not to kill yourself the day I've talked Toriel into letting me and Papyrus be your legal guardians. Got it?"

Frisk smirked as Papyrus finally let go of his hands and said sarcastically, "So, I can kill myself _tomorrow_?"

Sans laughed out loud while Papyrus held Frisk close and said, "No! You're starting to act like Sans."

"My parents always said I had good timing," said Frisk. "I think Sans awakened it."

"I told ya I'm a great role model, Pap," Sans said.

"No, I'm not going to let Frisk turn into you," Papyrus replied. "You're going to stop corrupting him right now!"

Undyne smiled, got in the driver's chair, turned the boat back on and said, "Don't try to stop it, Papyrus. This is Frisk's way of rebuilding his determination."

Papyrus sulked while Undyne drove back to the rental place. Unbeknownst to them all, the Ferryman was watching from a safe distance away.


	52. Chapter 52

After Undyne convinced him to let her be another co-legal guardian, Sans short cut to Toriel's place. They exchanged numbers and started making plans. Today was a big day, so they had to do something special for Frisk.

In the meantime, Undyne brought the boat back to the boat rental place, and the group returned all the other items with only the wetsuits left.

Meanwhile, the Ferryman was still following at a distance behind them. Once the group started walking to the place they had gone to rent the wetsuits, he disembarked. All the preparations had been made, and it was time to make himself known.

The Ferryman followed them at a safe distance until they found the wetsuit rental place. Papyrus waited in front of the store while Undyne and Frisk went into the changing rooms in the bathrooms on the outer part of the store to put on their normal clothes.

The Ferryman went around to the back to change his form and then waited for Frisk to leave his changing room.

Frisk walked out of the bathroom with all his clothes on except for his sweater that he was tied around his waist. The bandages on his arms were soaking wet, and he needed to pull them off.

The wet suit rental store was on a boardwalk next to the river. The bathroom was facing the river. Frisk walked over next to the water and smiled. The rushing water flowing by and moving the shallow water plants could almost fill his soul with determination.

If it weren't for Flowey, doing that would be much easier. Frisk didn't know how to feel about him. Flowey still terrified him. Thinking about him for more than a second was enough to make Frisk breathe hard. Frisk was content to let Flowey become a distant memory, but on the other hand, he was still supposed to show him mercy, right? How could he do that if he never saw him again? How could he see Flowey again if just thinking about him was enough to send Frisk into a dark flashback?

Frisk sighed deeply, prayed for wisdom, and started pulling off the bandages until they were completely free from his arms. As he stood there with the bandages in his hands resting on top of the railing, Frisk heard a response for the first time that day.

"I'll help you deal with that in time, my son," He said. "What you need to focus on now is what's coming next. Don't be afraid. I'll be with you."

Frisk pondered for a second and was lost in thought while the Ferryman rolled up behind him and rested his hand on his shoulder.

"Hello there, darling," he said while Frisk's heart immediately stopped. "I've been trying to catch you alone all day. I just have to talk to you!"

Frisk knew that voice.

Frisk spun around, gave the still-cloaked figure a good kick in the torso, and scrambled away as quickly as he could while he rolled backwards.

Unfortunately, the one in the cloak was fast to recover and slid in front of Frisk before he could get too far.

"Hold up, gentle-beauty," the Ferryman said dramatically grabbing onto his cloak and throwing it off to reveal the robot underneath. "It's me. Mettaton! I doubt you haven't at least heard of me. You don't need to be afraid, human. I don't want to hurt you."

Frisk froze in his tracks and found himself to be speechless. Mettaton was the only monster he could never figure out how to spare. He could not fight him now, but wait…

"You don't want to hurt me?" Frisk asked curiously. "Then, what do you want? I need to get back to my friends."

"Just a moment, darling," Mettaton said. "I only wanted to ask you if…"

Mettaton's gaze finally caught sight of Frisk's uncovered arms and the bandages he was holding in his hands. It was the opportunity he was waited for. This day couldn't get any better.

"If I could see your arms," Mettaton replied.

"What?" Frisk said suspiciously folding his arms in response. "Why do you need to look at my arms?"

"Because, darling, every monster who's seen you has been asking about them," Mettaton said while rolling closer to Frisk. "Don't you want to satisfy their curiosity?!"

"Tough toenails," Frisk said trying to walk away from him. "I'm not showing you my arms. I don't know you. It's…weird. Just leave me alone."

"I'll give you 50,000G," Mettaton said suddenly stopping Frisk in his tracks.

"What?" Frisk said turning around to face him.

"It's no big deal to me, darling. I have plenty more money where that came from."

"Why? All I have to do is let you look at my arms? Nothing else?"

"Not unless you want there to be, darling."

"I don't know…"

"I know you're a smart boy. Those skeletons are taking care of you, but that takes money. Surely, you want to contribute to your new family. Don't you? You wouldn't be a millionaire, but I know it would help."

Frisk pondered for less than a second before he dropped his bandages and walked back towards Mettaton. He usually hated indulging bullies, but to help his new brothers, Frisk was willing to do anything.

Frisk held out his arms so Mettaton could examine them closely.

"Oh, good," Mettaton said turning one of his eye panels into a scanner. "We have a deal after all. I cannot thank you enough. I can't explain how happy this will make my audience."

Mettaton grabbed both of Frisk's arms and ran his scan over them. Very quickly, Mettaton identified the marks.

"These cuts are self-inflicted," Mettaton said slowly looking up. "Aren't they?"

Frisk looked away in shame before he shook his arms out of Mettaton's grip and started walking away without saying anything.

"Oh, you poor psychologically-disturbed thing," Mettaton said following behind him. "I had no idea you were a cutter. This is serious. When did you start?"

"I don't have to tell you anything," Frisk said defensively. "Give me the money or mail it to me later. I've gotta go…"

Before Frisk even had time to breathe, Mettaton was in front of Frisk with the 50,000G check in the checkbook. Frisk's mouth hung agape in surprise.

"Here's your money, dear," he said. "What was your name again?"

"F-Frisk," Frisk replied. "Frisk Fox."

"My, what an interesting name," Mettaton said adding the last few details to the check before handing it to Frisk. "I like it. Here, you go."

Frisk grabbed the check and stared at the money in awe. He had never been in that much money before in his life. It was overwhelming.

"Pleasure doing business with you, dear," Mettaton said pretending to leave. "Of course, there is more where that came from if you're interested."

Frisk was silent, but he looked back in his direction. It was the response Mettaton was hoping for.

"I could give you 1 million G, and that would just be the beginning, darling," Mettaton said. "When it's all over, you'd be getting a much bigger prize. How does that sound?"

"What would I have to do?" Frisk asked suspiciously.

"Oh, not much, just come on my show."

"What kind of show is it?"

"A talk show. I want to ask you questions about your life to satisfy the curiosity of my viewers. Nothing difficult."

"Will…will I get hurt?"

Mettaton pulled back like he was hurt and said, "Oh, darling. Why would you say such an awful thing? I could never…I promise not to hurt you, dear. You'll get home unharmed and in one piece."

"You really mean that?" Frisk asked skeptically.

"Yep. Come on my show, and you'll be home and richer before dinner. What do you say?"

Frisk pondered for a moment. He did not trust Mettaton or really even like him that much, but he wanted to help his new brothers. They had done so much for him. Frisk was tired of not being able to help them in return…

"Well?" Mettaton asked interrupting the silence.

"I'll do it," Frisk reluctantly agreed.

"Splendid!" Mettaton said rolling up to Frisk and wrapping his arms around him in a hug. "You will not regret this, Frisk! I promise!"


	53. Chapter 53

"METTATON?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" they both heard Undyne scream behind them as they finished their hug.

Undyne quickly pulled out a spear and held it in Mettaton's face as she said, "Back away from our kid."

"Yeah," Papyrus said bravely as he picked Frisk up and held him on his hip. "Stay away from him!"

"Hello, Undyne," Mettaton said. "As charming as ever, I see. You've got me all wrong, dear. Frisk and I were only making a business agreement."

"It's true," Frisk said quickly. "He's given me 50,000G to look at my arms already. He has promised me more if I go on his show."

Undyne's and Papyrus' expressions twisted in confusion as they both said, "What?!"

"It's true," Mettaton interrupted. "Frisk here is going to be a guest on my talk show today. Isn't it amazing?"

"Wow, Frisk!" Papyrus said excitedly. "That is so cool!"

Undyne, however, was not convinced.

"Frisk, can we talk in private?" Undyne asked. "Papyrus, you come, too. Mettaton, wait right here."

"With pleasure," Mettaton said pulling out his phone to make some further arrangements. "I've got phone calls to make anyway."

When Mettaton rolled away to make his call, Undyne said, "Frisk, have you lost your mind! That robot has tried to kill you every single time you've faced him. What are you thinking?"

"He's offering me 1 million G," Frisk said. "Sans said he wanted to take me to see a psychologist. They're expensive, right? This could pay for all that. Besides, he said all he wanted me to do was talk…"

"And you trust him?" Undyne asked incredulously.

"Well…" Frisk trailed off.

"I think you should lighten up, Undyne," Papyrus said. "He just wants Frisk to go on a talk show. I don't think Mettaton wants to hurt Frisk this time."

"Papyrus, you saw the same memories I did, right?" Undyne asked. "You remember what has happened literally every time Mettaton has brought Frisk on one of his programs?!"

"Yeah, but all those times Mettaton forced Frisk to be on his show," Papyrus explained. "This time, he's asking."

Undyne paused.

"Okay," she said. "That's a really good point, but I still don't trust that hunk of metal…"

"Neither do I," Frisk interrupted. "But I want to help. Look, I know Sans and Papyrus aren't starving, but it's going to cost money to take care of me. I want to make it easier. You've all done so much for me, and I've been too weak and useless to do anything for you in return. I'm so sick of being helpless. At least this way, I'll actually be able to do something for you guys and for our new family."

"Frisk…" Papyrus began quietly. "You're not useless…"

"I understand, Frisk," Undyne said. "But I still don't trust Mettaton…"

"Then, why don't you guys come with me?" Frisk asked. "Mettaton can't hurt me if you guys are with me the whole time. Right?"

"That is true," Undyne said proudly. "Okay, you can do it, but only if Papyrus and I stay with you the whole time. Got it?"

"Got it," Frisk replied happily.

"Yes!" Papyrus said excitedly. "My little brother is gonna be on TV. This will be so cool!"

"Is your family meeting over yet?" Mettaton asked impatiently rolling around the corner.

"Yeah," Undyne said. "Frisk can be on your show, but only if me and Papyrus can go with him."

"Oh, I was hoping you'd say that," Mettaton replied unexpectedly excitedly. "We can get the whole family involved. You can sit in the audience. This will be wonderful."

Mettaton made a noise that sounded like a whistle, and the Ferryman's boat appeared at the dock. Everyone looked at it and came to the same realization.

"Hop on, beauties," Mettaton said. "We've gotta get back to the studio.

"Isn't that the Ferryman's boat?" Frisk asked.

"It is," Mettaton said turning on his rockets, picking Frisk up, and lowering him onto the boat. "I paid River to spend the day with one of my employees, so I could borrow it."

"You did all that just to stalk us?" Undyne asked suspiciously as she hopped over the railing and embarked herself.

"Oh, Undyne, I wouldn't call it stalking," Mettaton said. "I would call it going undercover for a surprise."

"Right," Undyne replied sarcastically crossing her arms.

Papyrus hopped on behind her, and the boat took off.

"Oh, Frisk, this is gonna be amazing," Papyrus excited hopping up and down in place. "You're gonna be so famous! Wait until Sans finds out. He'll be so surprised."


	54. Chapter 54

On the front of the boat, Mettaton was steering with his long oar while his passengers were sitting at the back end and quietly talking amongst themselves.

"Wait, Sans made you call Varda?" Undyne asked. "Papyrus, how could you let your brother make Frisk do that? You know how embarrassing those types of things are. I wouldn't know, of course, but it's scary to call a crush for the first time…"

"Hey," Frisk interrupted defensively. "I never said she was my crush. She's my best friend on the surface..."

"Sure, you should have seen him when Sans got her on speaker," Papyrus said in an amused tone. "He couldn't say a word at first."

"Wait, is that true?" Undyne asked.

Frisk felt his face flush as he avoided looking at her and said, "I thought I would never hear her voice again. When I heard her, I was…surprised, but we eventually started talking. It turns out that it has only been four days since we last saw each other. She thought Sans and Papyrus had kidnapped me and threatened to beat them up to save me. I had to calm her down and tell her I was alright. She hasn't changed at all…"

While he remembered her face, Frisk closed his eyes and smiled as his palms grew sweaty and his heart started pumping faster. That was not lost on anyone in the boat, especially not on Mettaton.

"Oh, darling, you have it bad," Mettaton said.

"He really does," Papyrus replied.

Frisk opened his eyes in embarrassment and quickly wiped his hands on the sweater he was now wearing.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Frisk said defensively. "We're friends. I missed her a lot."

"Leave him alone, guys," Undyne said to back him up. "He said she was just a friend, so let him be. He's 10. Not every relationship has to be romantic…"

"You would know," Mettaton chimed in.

"Watch it, pretty boy…" Undyne snapped.

"Yeah," Frisk began sadly. "I'll probably never see her again anyway. We'll just be talking and texting buddies…"

"You could see her if you tried going back to the surface, dear," Mettaton chimed in.

"That's not happening…" Frisk said carefully choosing his words.

Undyne sighed understanding his feelings.

"At least, not until, his HP is at full health," Papyrus said.

Frisk and Undyne glared desperately hoping that he would get their meeting, but the next thing Papyrus said was "That's when we're getting Frisk's backpack…"

"Papyrus…" Undyne said quietly while Frisk sighed in despair.

"What?" Papyrus asked before he figured out what he just said wrong. "Oh…uh, yeah, the backpack that is at the top of the hole Frisk fell down but still past the barrier. We must climb to get it and that'll take tons of energy..."

"Yeah, it certainly will," Frisk said praying that Mettaton bought their story.

"Whatever…" Mettaton said convincingly enough. "Here, we are, my beauties! Welcome to my studio!"

Frisk and the others looked up to see a tall building with flashing neon lights of Mettaton all over the front and every side of what was otherwise a plain building. Shrubs cut in his shape dotted either side of the front entrance.

However, instead of stopping, Mettaton kept going until the boat rowed around the bend to the back. Then, the boat stopped at an empty, elaborately-decorated dock with a boathouse that had a painted woodcarving of Mettaton in the center of its entrance.

"Let's go," Mettaton said hopping off the boat and rolling up the dock while his passengers stood by in confusion.

Papyrus quickly hopped off the boat and followed him out of the boathouse. Frisk tried to follow, but Undyne held him back on the boat.

Noticing that those two were not following him, Mettaton turned around and asked, "Well, aren't you coming?"

"Why are we entering this way?" Undyne asked suspiciously. "Why couldn't we just enter through the front?"

"Yeah, why aren't we going through the front, Mettaton?" Frisk asked.

"That is a good question," Papyrus said trying to mediate. "You're not planning something evil. Are you?"

"I'm surprised at all of you," Mettaton said posing dramatically. "Do you really think of me that way?"

"Well…" Papyrus hesitated.

"Well then, I'll have you know we're entering this way to keep the human child out of the spotlight, dears," Mettaton said getting out of his pose. "The paparazzi would have a field day if they knew he was here, and the surprise would be ruined."

"You mean, the other monsters don't know I'm gonna be on your show?" Frisk asked climbing onto the dock behind him.

"No one except me and my wonderful staff inside," Mettaton said rolling to where Frisk was and taking his hands. "You're a surprise, darling. Now, let's get going. I'm having a complementary lunch brought in for all of you in my dressing room. I'm sure you must be famished."

"Ooooooh," Papyrus said while Frisk smiled at the very idea. "That is so generous of you."

Undyne finally hopped on the deck and pulled Frisk by his sweater away from Mettaton before she said, "Alright, Mettaton, I guess your story checks out, but remember, I've still got my eye on you."

"You're so overprotective, Undyne…" Mettaton noted.

"Of course, I am," Undyne said. "I'm going to be one of his legal guardians after today."

Mettaton paused for a second before he asked, "Is that right?"

"Yes," Papyrus said. "Sans and I are, too. We'll legally be his siblings! Isn't that great?"

Mettaton immediately perked up again and said, "Of course. Now, if you'll follow me, I can bring you to a feast to celebrate."

Papyrus ran past him to the back door. Mettaton looked at Undyne and Frisk one more time before he rolled to catch up with Papyrus.

Frisk followed them out of the boathouse, but before he could get too far, Undyne placed her hand on his shoulder and said, "Hand me your phone."

"Why?" Frisk asked as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her.

"Because I have a feeling that that bucket of bolts is going to separate us eventually, and when he does, you need to have my number," Undyne said while entering her number into his phone. "You have Sans' and Papyrus' numbers already, right?"

"Yeah, Sans put the numbers in before I got the phone back," Frisk said while looking up to see Mettaton gesturing for them to come in. "He wants us to follow him now."

"Alright," Undyne said handing the phone back to Frisk and pulling him up to her shoulders so he could ride on her back while she powerwalked off the deck towards the backdoor. "You know. I still don't trust Mettaton. If he weren't offering ya money, we'd be halfway back home by now. Are you sure you still want to do this? This could get dangerous very quickly, and if I let anything happen to you, Sans would kill me."

"Yes," Frisk said with determination. "You guys have been wonderful, and I haven't been able to do anything for you in return. I'm tired of it. I'm tired of being so helpless…"

"I hope we know what we're doing…"

"Me, too. I'll pray for both of us."

"Oh, dear," Mettaton interrupted with a weird amount of concern behind his voice. "Is he feeling okay?"

"Yeah," Undyne said before Frisk could come up with a response. "He's just a bit tired and hungry from all our training."

"I'll be fine as soon as I eat," Frisk said as he and Undyne went through the opening.

"Oh, good," Mettaton said sounding unusually relieved as he shut the back door and followed behind. "I'd hate to have anything happen to make my precious little darling miss the show."


	55. Chapter 55

About an hour later, Frisk, Undyne, and Papyrus were just finishing lunch in Mettaton's dressing room. Mettaton had left right after they received their food for "some important business" he needed to attend to before the show.

Papyrus was concerned about Frisk trying the food, but he calmed down once Undyne told him it wasn't the artisan kind of spaghetti that would make Frisk sick. After that, the room was quiet while everyone enjoyed the food in front of them.

While they ate, they took in the lavish place that was Mettaton's dressing room.

They were sat down on Mettaton's antique, refurbished pink couch with fancy wood designs while a linen-covered table of Caesar salad and spaghetti and meat sauce was rolled out for them to eat along with a large pitcher of ice water and glasses to drink out of. To the right of the couch was an antique wooden table that had a coaster with Mettaton's face on it.

Their feet rested on a clean wood floor that was clean enough to see their faces on as if the mirrors on the wall in front of them that made the dressing room look like a mini-ballet studio weren't enough. There was a TV monitor in the corner that reflected them in a black screen, too.

On the wall to their right was the stereotypical vanity that was in every dressing room, except that it had a chair in front of it that looked like it belonged in a barber shop and that it was bigger and looked like it had been refurbished, too. On it were things like make-up and hairspray that it didn't make sense for a robot to have. Next to that was a mini-fridge, a large window, and then a dressing wall.

On the wall behind them was a bathroom and next to that was a rack of clothes. On the wall to the left was a bunch of posters and finally the door leading to the rest of the studio.

"He certainly likes mirrors," Papyrus said breaking the silence.

"Yeah," Frisk replied after sipping some more water. "They're everywhere."

"Classic sign of narcissism…" Undyne said under her breath before she took another bite of food.

"What's narcissism?" Papyrus asked after swallowing his last bite of spaghetti.

"It means he's obsessed with himself, right?" Frisk asked putting his glass down.

"Yeah," Undyne said feeling slightly impressed. "How did you know that?"

"It was in a book I was reading at the library," Frisk replied scooping the last of the spaghetti onto his fork. "I didn't know what it meant, so I looked in a dictionary."

"You're such a nerd," Undyne said rubbing her left hand on Frisk's still damp hair before she wrapped it around his shoulders and allowed him to rest against her side. "I could never get into all that reading for school, but hey, you had to do something when you slept in that library, right?"

"I've actually always loved reading," Frisk said. "You can learn and go so many places when you read a book. I never got along with most of the kids in school, so I read books during recess instead of talking to them. It was like an escape. Then when I was living on the streets, it was one of the only things I could do to forget that I was a homeless orphan for a while since everything else cost money."

"So, reading is like an escape?" Undyne said thoughtfully. "Like manga? Huh? Well, I guess that makes sense. I might just have to give reading those books without pictures another chance."

"You should," Papyrus said from the other side of her finishing the last bites of his food. "Reading's fun!"

"I honestly prefer the books without pictures," Frisk said. "I like imagining the stories inside my head."

It was then that Mettaton threw open the door and said, "I'm back, my beauties! How was the food?"

"It was great," Papyrus said. "But I think I could improve on it. You should try my artisan spaghetti sometime! Wait, you aren't allergic. Are you?"

Mettaton stared at him blankly until Frisk sat up and said, "The food was wonderful. Thank you."

"Oh, it's no problem, darling," Mettaton said rolling closer to him. "I'm glad you liked it…"

Undyne held Frisk more closely against her side and said suspiciously, "You were gone a while. What took ya so long, Mettaton?"

"I told you already," Mettaton said nonchalantly. "I had some last-minute details to look into and paperwork to sign before the show. I'd go into details, but it's so dreadfully boring that you'd be asleep before too long."

"I'm sure," Undyne said sarcastically.

Mettaton rolled to the other side of Papyrus and pushed the rolling table in front of them out of the room while he said, "Anyways, since you're done, it is now time for you to leave while I get Frisk ready."

Frisk's heart quickened its pace as Undyne stood up, picked Frisk up, and said, "What the hell do you mean?! Where do you get off?! Why do we have to leave him with you?!"

"Yeah," Papyrus said approaching Mettaton nervously. "Why can't we stay here and help? We are his future legal guardians."

Mettaton finished rolling the table out, posed in the doorway, and said, "I'm afraid it's protocol. The dressing room isn't big enough for people who can't help, so you must wait in the front row in front of the stage. Those are the rules."

"This is bullshit," Undyne said letting her anger show. "This room is more than big enough. There's no reason we shouldn't be able to stay…"

"Of course, you could all leave and call the whole thing off if you wanted to," Mettaton said. "It's no skin off my nose, but if you want to stay and give Frisk his prize, you must abide by the rules."

"But…" Papyrus said fearfully while Undyne held Frisk more tightly.

"It's alright," Frisk suddenly said. "Go wait for me in the front row. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Undyne asked.

"Yeah, you don't have to stay if you're scared, Frisk," Papyrus started to say.

"Yes, I'm not scared," Frisk lied before he whispered into Undyne's ear. "I have the phone with me. It's okay. I'll call you if there're any problems."

"You'd better," Undyne whispered back as she lowered him to the ground. "Do not let him take your phone away from you. Got it?"

"Got it," Frisk said as she slowly let go.

Suddenly, Mettaton rolled up behind Undyne and Papyrus and started pushing them towards the door.

"Alright, we'll see you soon," Mettaton said forcibly pushing them out.

"Mettaton, what are you…?" Papyrus asked.

"Get your hands off us!" Undyne yelled angrily trying to shake from his hands.

"The staff will show you to your seats. We'll see you in about two hours," Mettaton said quickly as he finally pushed them out and shut the door. "Bye!"

As the staff ushered his friends away to their seats, Frisk gripped his scarred arms nervously and began to pray. He was alone with Mettaton. Every other timeline, this had never gone well.

Mettaton breathed a sigh of relief, turned to Frisk, and said, "Thank God! I thought those two would never leave. Their hovering was driving me crazy. Anyway, let's see what we have here."

Mettaton rolled around Frisk to get a good at him.

"What are you doing?" Frisk asked suspiciously.

"I'm seeing what we have to do to get you ready for the show, darling," Mettaton said. "And I must say, I have my work cut out for me. You're a mess. There's no way you can go on as you are now."

"Why not?"

"Look at you. You're filthy, your hair's a mess, and you're dressed like you're homeless."

"What do you want me to do about it?"

Mettaton paused for a moment and said, "You're so sassy. For some reason, I expected you to be quieter. Weird, huh?"

A twinge of uneasiness came over Frisk and he replied, "Yeah, weird…"

Suddenly, Mettaton put his hand on Frisk's back and pushed him towards his bathroom.

"Anyways, we have to get you cleaned up," Mettaton said pushing Frisk until he was at the entrance of the bathroom, opening the door, and pushing him in. "Go take a shower, Frisk, and make sure you get everywhere, especially that hair. I'll be out here if you need me."

Before Frisk could respond, Mettaton shut the door behind him and left him to get to work. Frisk looked at the bathroom mirror, breathed a deep breath, and got to work.


	56. Chapter 56

Frisk finished taking a shower and turned off the water. After pulling his necklace off the faucet and putting it around his neck, Frisk stood there for a moment in contemplation of what Mettaton would probably do next.

Frisk scratched his arms fearfully. He did not like being this close to Mettaton alone. It had never gone well.

Frisk breathed deeply and prayed for the wisdom to know what he was doing as he opened the curtain of the fancy-looking bathtub and discovered to his horror that his phone and his clothes were not where he left them on top of the toilet next to the tub.

"God, how did this happen?" Frisk prayed. "I didn't even hear him come in…"

In a panic, Frisk pulled a towel off the rack next to the tub and wrapped it around himself while he climbed out and ran for the door.

Frisk opened the door and yelled, "Mettaton, do you know where my clothes are?!"

He couldn't see where Mettaton was, but Frisk heard him respond, "Of course, dear, I threw them out."

"WHAT?!" Frisk screamed as he left the bathroom. "Mettaton, those were the only clothes I had!"

"I could tell," Mettaton responded sitting up and revealing his purple form on the couch. "They were so torn up, not to mention out-of-date."

"Then, where's my phone?" Frisk asked anxiously.

"It's charging on the vanity," Mettaton replied pointing a blobby hand to his vanity where the phone was sitting while connected to a charger.

Frisk walked over to the vanity and pulled the phone out of the charger. It was now fully charged.

"Thanks," Frisk said reluctantly turning back to Mettaton and freezing in surprise.

Mettaton looked over and showed his face. He was a purplish-pink ghost with long eyes and a styled swath of hair. Frisk stared on in surprise as Mettaton looked back in amusement while holding his glass of red wine.

"Whoops," Mettaton said lackadaisically gesturing to his body that was charging against the other wall. "I guess I should have warned you in advance. This is what I look like when I'm not a robot. I would stay in the body full-time if I could, but it has its drawbacks. For one thing, it must be charged at regular intervals. Not to mention, you can't enjoy the finer things in life, like food and drink…or wine."

Mettaton took another sip of his wine before saying, "Dr. Alphys built it for me. She's a genius, and she's built me an upgrade I plan on unveiling tonight. But for obvious reasons, I'd like you to keep this under wraps. If it weren't for that suit, I'd still be a snail farmer…Oh, look at you. Where are my manners? Would you like for me to find you some clothes, Frisk?"

Frisk's only response was, "You're like Napstablook…"

Mettaton's expression and tone immediately changed.

"How do you know Napstablook?" Mettaton asked.

"He's my friend," Frisk answered cautiously. "I met him in the Ruins when I first fell. I went to his house and listened to music yesterday. How do you know him?"

Mettaton put the wine glass down on the table and replied happily, "He's my cousin."

"What?" Frisk asked incredulously.

"It's true," Mettaton said pulling out his phone, scrolling to a picture of him and his cousin, and showing the phone to Frisk. "This is us at the snail farm. We've always been super close. That's why we lived right next door to each other."

"I've seen it. That was really your house?"

"Yes, sadly, it didn't last. I loved living so close by and hanging out with Napstablook all the time, but I hated that snail farm our parents dumped on us. So, did he. I wanted to be a superstar like you humans have on the surface. He wanted to create his own house music. I left that place the first chance I got. I just wish my cousin was as bold as me…"

"Why didn't you bring him with you? He's really depressed."

"There were only one suit and one spot, and I took it. Besides, he wouldn't abandon that damn farm. If only there was some way I could convince him to leave, then he could be happy, too. I really should call him sometime."

Mettaton looked sadly at the picture on his phone. He was lost in thought and thinking about what he could do for his cousin when a reminder popped up on his phone telling him that the show was starting in about an hour and a half.

"Oh, God," Mettaton said putting away his phone and phasing through the couch and table to where Frisk was standing. "We're running out of time. I need to get you into some clothes and get started on that hair."

"But what about Napstablook?" Frisk asked.

"We'll deal with him later," said Mettaton as he flew over the couch and threw a package of underwear and a pair of black skinny jeans at the dumbfounded boy.

Frisk somehow managed to catch the clothes with one arm while still holding the towel around his waist with the other.

"Don't just stand there, darling," Mettaton said flying behind him and ushering him back into the bathroom. "Go put those on."

Mettaton shut Frisk back into the bathroom and pulled the rack of clothes over to the bathroom door.

In a few minutes, Frisk opened the door wearing the underwear and black skinny jeans and saw the rack of clothes in front of him. Without warning before he could even react, Mettaton flew behind him, picked him up, carried him above the rack, and placed him on the other side.

"You really were homeless," Mettaton commented before his eyes fell on the scars that covered Frisk's torso. "Your body is so light and underweight…Oh, dear God…"

Frisk realized what he was looking at and wrapped his arms around his torso in shame.

"Don't stare at them," Frisk said shamefully.

"Those cuts are deep, Frisk," Mettaton said sternly. "Did someone attack you? Or did you attempt suicide?"

"That's…that's none of your business."

"Do the skeletons and Undyne know about them?"

"Yes."

"Interesting…Anyways, those definitely need to be covered up. Pick out a shirt from the rack, dear. I'll go get your shoes and socks."

Mettaton flew away to find his items while Frisk looked over the clothes from the rack. He pulled down a white tank top with Mettaton's face on it offhandedly to cover his scarred torso before he took a more serious look at the other shirts on the rack.

The shirts were not Frisk's taste, to say the least. They were flashy and gaudy as shirts you would find in an 80's big hair band. They had sequins, feather, and everything meant to call the attention that Frisk had never wanted in his life. Even the most understated of them was brightly-colored or way too fancy.

Frisk grimaced in dismay as he desperately looked through the shirts for something tolerable. He would have to wear one of these ugly things on stage in front of an audience in a studio and wherever else in the Underground anyone might be watching.

Everything about this situation was awkward and uncomfortable and Frisk couldn't wait for it to be over. He asked God to help him focus on the end goal. He was doing this for Sans and Papyrus. Since Frisk would not be able to free them, he would make sure they could at least have the money to do whatever they wanted and be happy…

Frisk stopped searching. He had found the perfect shirt. It was a red and black-striped sweater. It looked almost exactly like the sweater the lead singer of his Dad's favorite grunge band wore on the cover of one of his albums. Frisk smiled at the memory and pulled the sweater off the rack and onto his body. It was slightly big on him, but it was comfortable.

"I found the perfect shoes to go with your jeans, Frisk," Mettaton said flying back over with black army boots and black socks before he noticed what Frisk was wearing. "Oh, you picked out that one…I forgot we even had that one…I'll admit it looks good on you, but I was hoping you'd choose something less…gothic-looking. Are you sure that you don't want to wear something more cheerful, Frisk?"

"No, I like this one the best," Frisk protested. "It looks the sweater of one of my Dad's favorite grunge singers. It's cool."

"It's a bit big on you."

"I don't care. I want to wear it."

"Okay, fine," Mettaton relented. "Got to pick your battles I suppose. Put on your shoes and socks, darling. I need to get to do your hair."

Mettaton flew above Frisk and dropped the items in his hands. Frisk got on the floor and pulled on the shoes and socks on his feet. He had to admit they were comfortable, a bit too comfortable.

"Frisk, dear, come sit on the chair," Mettaton called from the chair in front of the vanity. "I have to fix your hair. Come on."

Frisk walked over and sat in the chair.

After Mettaton put a sheet around Frisk's shoulders and started gently combing his hair straight, Frisk asked, "Mettaton, how did you know what size clothes to get me?"

"Easy, dear," he replied while flying back to grab his wine, sip it, and put it down on the vanity. "I checked the sizes of the clothes I threw out."

"Oh," Frisk said while Mettaton pulled out the scissors. "I guess that makes sense. You still shouldn't have thrown out my clothes without asking me…Hey! What are you doing with those scissors?"

"Your hair has ungodly split ends. I need to trim them. Is that alright?"

"Yeah, I guess that's okay. Just don't make it too short. I like it long. That was how my Dad wore it."

"I understand," Mettaton said as he started trimming the split ends of Frisk's hair. "Good God, who do you let cut your hair?"

"I usually do it," Frisk replied. "But yesterday, I let Sans do it."

"That explains it," Mettaton said in disgust. "Darling, you have lovely hair. Please do yourself a favor and never cut it yourself or let Sans cut it ever again."


	57. Chapter 57

About 30 minutes later, Mettaton was finally done with Frisk's hair.

"Phew!" Mettaton said putting down the curling iron and drinking the last sip of his wine while hovering around the back of the chair. "Your hair is finally presentable. Do you like it?"

Frisk looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was even all-around, but Mettaton had made it wavy, like how his looked when he was Mettaton EX. Frisk wasn't too sure he liked that.

But Frisk said, "It looks fine…"

"Oh, good," Mettaton said clasping his hands together happily. "I knew you'd love it. It really balances out the look, so you don't look so grungy…"

"But I like looking grungy," Frisk said glaring at him in annoyance. "It's cool. Besides, aren't you the one who gave me the black pants and boots?"

Mettaton put his ghostly hands on Frisk's shoulders and said, "Now's not the time for arguing, darling. Now's the time for makeup."

"Makeup?" Frisk asked incredulously looking back at him. "But, why do I need makeup? I'm a boy."

"Who says boys can't wear makeup?"

"But I don't want to wear makeup. It's weird."

"Don't whine, Frisk," Mettaton said turning the chair around and hovering over Frisk with the foundation that he pulled out from nowhere. "You need makeup, or else on stage, your face will be harder to see. Now, hold still, dear. This shouldn't take long."

"No!" Frisk protested while pulling his sweater over his face. "I'm not wearing it! You'll make me look like a girl!"

"I will not!" Mettaton replied in annoyance. "Now, cut this out! We're running out of time."

"Then, don't give me makeup!"

"You have to have it to go on-stage, sweetie. It's protocol."

"I don't care."

"You should care."

"Why should I?"

Mettaton rolled his eyes impatiently, dug his free hand into the sweater so that it was under Frisk's head, and propped it up so that his head was out of the sweater and his eyes were looking directly into his.

Frisk trembled nervously as Mettaton stared directly into his eyes.

Mettaton looked back confidently and said in the charming, flamboyant tone that was somehow also intimidating, "Because, my dear little Frisk, unless you follow the rules and do what I say, you aren't allowed to go on stage and you won't get any of the prizes I wanted to give you. You don't want that. Do you?"

"No," Frisk said timidly looking away.

"I didn't think so," Mettaton said changing his tone back to cheerful and letting Frisk's head go so he could squirt the foundation in his hands. "Now, sit back and close your eyes, my dear. I'm gonna make you look pretty."

Frisk flinched as Mettaton rubbed the foundation on his face, but he stood as still as he could. Frisk prayed for strength and kept in mind how much the money would be helping his new family.


	58. Chapter 58

About 30 minutes later, Mettaton finally finished applying the final touches to Frisk's makeup.

"There, you go," Mettaton said in annoyance while turning Frisk towards the mirror of the vanity. "That wasn't so bad. Was it? Was that really worth all that fuss?"

Frisk looked at himself in the mirror. He did not look like a girl, but he still looked and felt weird.

"It's so think," Frisk said attempting to touch his face with his finger before Mettaton caught his hand.

"Don't touch it," Mettaton said sternly before letting go and switching back to his cheerful tone. "Glamorous? Isn't it?"

"It feels weird," Frisk said while grimacing.

"That's stage makeup for you, darling, but don't worry," Mettaton said as he took the sheet of his young co-star. "You'll forget it's even there before too long."

"Why would anyone put themselves through that on purpose?" Frisk said hopping off the chair.

"You can't be serious. It makes you feel gorgeous! Didn't you ever see your mother put on her makeup?"

"Not really. She did it when she went on dates with my Dad or for the holy place sometimes, but she usually didn't like putting on makeup. She said it was too much work."

"Explains a lot about your personal style," Mettaton muttered under his breath as he found a dustpan and mini-broom to clean up the hair on the floor.

"Excuse me?" Frisk replied.

"Nothing, dear," Mettaton said cheerfully.

"Sure," Frisk said rolling his eyes and walking to the bathroom.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm going to the bathroom."

"Oh, okay," Mettaton said before he flew up to him with a packaged toothbrush and toothpaste. "Brush your teeth while you're in there. And please don't wash off your makeup, or I will scream."

"Got it," Frisk said taking the package and shutting himself in the bathroom.

As soon as the door was shut, Frisk sent a text message to Undyne and Papyrus telling them what had just happened between him and Mettaton. He also sent one to Napstablook to let him know he was on the show with his cousin. He anxiously waited for their replies as he used the toilet and washed his hands afterwards.

The first reply came from Undyne. When Frisk saw it, he left the water running as he learned to on the surface to confuse people who were stalking him, shook his hands dry, and looked at the message.

"Damn ghost!" Undyne said. "Where does he get off threatening you like that? You're a kid! Of course, you don't like makeup. What a creep! You can still walk out of this whenever you want. If I were you, I would leave in a heartbeat."

"Maybe he's just stressed out," Papyrus replied on the group message. "But Undyne's right. You don't have to go on TV if you don't want to, Frisk. We don't need the money that badly. You're not useless if you don't get the money. ?"

Frisk thought for a second before he responded, "I still want to help you guys out. I think we'll be okay. He just wants to do a talk show, but if he's lying and everything goes wrong, you guys can beat him up for me."

"True," Undyne replied. "Just be careful and tell us the moment he starts acting more suspicious than usual."

"Got it," Frisk said.

After he sent his reply, Frisk received a reply from Napstablook.

"I'll watch you on the show today," Napstablook said. "Tell my cousin I said hi. Break a leg! Not literally, uh, you know what I mean."

As soon as Frisk sent back a smiley face emoji in reply, he heard a knock on the door.

"Frisk, are you alright?" Mettaton asked. "What's taking you so long?"

Frisk quickly put his toothbrush under the running faucet, put toothpaste on it, and started brushing his teeth.

"I'll be just a minute," Frisk said with the toothbrush in his mouth.

Mettaton impatiently opened the door revealing that he was back in his robot body. Frisk looked back at him as innocently as he could while he was brushing his teeth.

"What's the problem?" Frisk asked.

Mettaton looked at him suspiciously while turning off the faucet and asked, "Do you always leave the faucet running for this long, dear?"

"Yeah, when I'm brushing my teeth."

"That is quite wasteful. Don't you care about the environment? My audience does."

"Yeah, of course, I'm sorry," Frisk said before he spat, rinsed off his toothbrush, and wiped his lips off with the towel he hung up.

Frisk felt Mettaton's metallic hands twist him around.

Mettaton studied his face for a moment before he said, "Okay, good. I was afraid you were washing off your makeup. Now, for the final touch…"

Mettaton pulled out his brand of lip balm and put it on Frisk's lips.

When Mettaton was done, he rolled backwards and said, "Perfect. I figured you wouldn't like lipstick, so I got you the next best thing. How do you like it, dear?"

Frisk had not used any lip balm since he had fallen, so despite himself, he had to admit that having it on his lips again felt great, like another step towards normalcy, like the frequent meals, warm beds, and toothbrushes.

"Thanks," Frisk said genuinely. "Can I keep it?"

"Of course, you can, dear," Mettaton said handing the lip balm to Frisk. "You can carry it in your pocket until the show's over."

Frisk smiled gently while he stuffed the lip balm in the pocket of his pants.

No sooner had he done that, then did Mettaton grab his right hand and start rolling out of the bathroom and towards the dressing room door with Frisk in tow.

"Come on, Frisk," Mettaton said opening the door and rolling out with Frisk behind him. "It's time to go."

"Go where?" Frisk asked nervously.

"Oh, it's time for the show, dear," Mettaton replied while opening the door. "We're going on stage. Don't worry. All you have to do is answer a few questions, and everyone can go home!"

Frisk felt his heart skip a beat. He had been so preoccupied with the attention he had been receiving that he didn't even think about what he would be doing once he got on stage. His mind tuned out everything else that was going on as his nervousness grew.


	59. Chapter 59

Frisk's mind was frozen in a numb cloud. He did not respond or even really know what was going on as Mettaton pulled him through the hallways until they reached the studio.

Eventually, Mettaton let go of his hand and rolled away. Frisk barely noticed that or when he was being fitted with a lavalier mic.

He stood there staring blankly while praying repeatedly in his mind, "God, what do I do? What do I do? What do I do?"

Meanwhile, in the platformed seats at the front in the very center, Undyne was sitting agitated with her arms and legs crossed while Papyrus could barely contain his excitement.

"Oh, Undyne, this is gonna be so cool," Papyrus said before a thought occurred to him. "Wait, what if they call us on stage? Who do we say we are? Sans wouldn't want us to use our real names. I know! We could pretend to be married! We'll be Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton!"

Undyne who had barely listened to a word Papyrus said up to this point said, "Papyrus, nothing about this feels right."

"What are you talking about? It's fine. Mettaton doesn't want to kill Frisk this time. I think you can relax."

"But I just know he has a plan. Think about it, Papyrus. Even when Frisk has tried to be a pacifist, Mettaton has always tried to kill him and take his soul. This time, maybe he isn't following Alphys' plans or trying to take Frisk's soul, but he is still up to something and because everything has changed in this timeline, we don't know what it is."

"Well, maybe this time, Mettaton doesn't want to hurt Frisk at all. I mean, he hasn't tried anything…"

"That's just it. He never acts like he's going to. Mettaton is never straightforward about it. Frisk figures it out as he goes along."

Papyrus' expression fell as he finally understood the gravity behind Undyne's words.

"So, you're saying Mettaton could still be planning to hurt Frisk," he said.

"Exactly," Undyne replied.

"But, it doesn't have to be that way. Maybe Mettaton will be different this time."

"Somehow, I seriously doubt that."

Suddenly, Mettaton's voice boomed over the loudspeakers.

"Hello, beauties and gentle-beauties! Welcome to the pilot episode of 'Psychology with Mettaton!' Give it up for your host, Mettaton!"

The audience went wild as the curtains rolled back to reveal a comfortable-looking sitting area with a white rug and a turquoise chair and a turquoise couch and a white wall with a large monitor on it.

Mettaton rolled out to thunderous applause from everyone except Undyne and Papyrus who sat and stared nervously.

"Good afternoon, my lovely audience," Mettaton gushed. "Thank you for coming out to see me today! I love every one of you."

Everyone in the audience, including Papyrus, cheered while Undyne rolled her eye.

Mettaton then sat himself down in his chair while waiting for the camera in front to zoom in on his face.

"Now, without further ado, I have a treat for you in honor of the very first pilot episode of 'Psychology with Mettaton,'" Mettaton announced slowly to build up the excitement of the crowd. "Our first guest is someone you may have heard about. He hails from the world on the surface and is currently lodging among us. He is quiet and mysterious, though he means us no harm, and has graciously agreed to spend some time with us today in exchange for some fabulous prizes. Please grant a warm welcome to the human boy, FRISK FOX!"

The audience applauded nervously. They were in shock at the announcement while Undyne and Papyrus were waiting at the edge of their seats.

Backstage, Frisk thought he heard his name being called, but he tuned it out like everything else. Frisk thought he heard it again, but he couldn't will himself to move.

"Go, Frisk," he heard Him say. "You need to."

"I can't," Frisk whispered. "I didn't think this far ahead. What do I even say? What if he asks something personal? I can't tell them everything."

Back on stage, the audience murmured among themselves.

Mettaton calmly got up from his chair and said, "Just a moment, my lovely audience. The human is a bit shy."

Mettaton rolled slowly but briskly stage right to retrieve Frisk.

"Don't be afraid when he asks you anything," the Voice told Frisk. "I'll give you my wisdom and tell you what to say."

Frisk instantly tuned back into reality when he saw Mettaton grab his hand and pull him to the stage behind him. They were quickly on stage greeted by the surprised gasps of the audience. Once he looked at the audience and found his friends, Frisk felt his fears melt away again.

"Sorry about that," Frisk said immediately surprised at how loud his voice was.

"That's fine, darling," Mettaton said letting go of his hand and gesturing to the couch. "Take a seat, Frisk."

Frisk breathed deeply and took his seat while Mettaton took his.

Back in the Ruins around the table laden with numerous adoption papers in Toriel's living room, Sans saw his phone ring. It was Alphys.

"Alphys?" Toriel said looking up from her paperwork. "She's the royal scientist, right?"

"Yeah," Sans said picking up and answering the phone. "I wonder what she wants."

Without stopping to breathe, Alphys said, "Sans, turn on Mettaton's show now."

Sans put it on speaker and immediately looked around for Mettaton's show.

"Sans, what's up?" Toriel asked.

"She told me to look up Mettaton's show," Sans replied.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Sans, who's…?" Alphys started to ask.

"Queen Toriel," Sans said stressfully as he finally found what he was looking for. "Don't worry. She's cool. She's one of Frisk's future legal guardians."

For a second, Alphys was speechless.

Then she said, "Oh…my…God…Are you really?"

"Yes," Toriel replied gently but firmly. "Just don't tell you-know-who."

"Uh, okay," Alphys responded nervously as Sans pulled up the livestream from Mettaton's website.

"WHAT?!" Sans screamed almost at the top of his lungs while Toriel looked over his shoulder.

"I know," Alphys replied. "I don't know how this happened. I swear to God I had nothing to do with it."

"I told that hunk of metal to have nothing to do with the kid…" Sans said as the fury slowly grew behind his voice.

"I know. I've been trying to reach Mettaton since the show started, but it seems that he instructed his staff to ignore any call from me," Alphys said. "And evidently, from what I've watched so far, Frisk agreed to be on the show himself. So, it's not like he's being held against his will…"

"He's got to be up to something," Toriel chimed in.

"I agree, but what do we do?" Alphys asked. "Frisk agreed to it, so it's not like we can claim he's been kidnapped. We can't stop the show."

"Get up there," Sans said clearing trying to keep his anger under wraps.

"What?" Alphys asked.

"Get up there and keep watch," Sans said as calmly as he could. "I would do it myself, but I can't short-cut to a place I have never seen or been to before. I'll keep watch here."

"Uh, alright," Alphys said. "I'll get as close as I can, and I'll…I'll keep watching."

"We will, too," Sans said hanging up the phone.

He put his phone down, sat in one of the chairs, covered his face with his left hand, and tried to will himself to breathe deeply.

Toriel put a hand on his shoulder and said as calmly as she could, "We'll help Frisk, Sans, but the best thing we can do now is to stay calm and sign all this paperwork. If we do that, then we can take issue as legal guardians. That's what Frisk needs us to do right now. Can you do that?"

Sans sighed deeply, uncovered his face, and said, "You were right."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm more worried about this kid than I've ever been worried about anyone for most of my life. I've only felt that way about Papyrus. I guess that means I'm cut out to be Frisk's big brother after all."

Toriel smiled and got back to work. Sans did the same thing while keeping an eye socket on the livestream.


	60. Chapter 60

Meanwhile, back on stage, Mettaton sat in his chair, leaned back, and got himself comfortable as he prepared to ask the questions. Frisk did the same thing as he prepared to answer.

"Alright, Frisk, we'll start at the beginning," Mettaton said. "Is Frisk Fox really your name? It is so fabulous, not to mention the great alliteration! Do you have a middle name?"

"Yeah," Frisk said slightly dumbfounded. "My middle name's Tobius."

"Awww," Mettaton said clearly disappointed. "Way to ruin a great thing. What were your parents thinking?"

Frisk, annoyed at his words, said, "That was my uncle's name. He was my Dad's little brother. He died in the car crash that killed my grandparents."

"Oh…" Mettaton said feeling slightly embarrassed and anxious at hearing the audience's murmurs. "Sorry about that. Next question!"

"What a prick," Undyne whispered to Papyrus from the audience.

"So, your father was an orphan, too?" Mettaton asked.

"Yes, he met my mother at the orphanage," Frisk said still feeling a bit annoyed.

"So, both your parents were orphans! How tragic!" Mettaton said making dramatic poses.

"Maybe, but they wouldn't have met otherwise," Frisk said with a smile. "Sometimes, the Almighty uses awful situations to bring about great things. You know?"

"Oh, you're religious?" Mettaton said returning to his former posture.

"Yep," Frisk replied.

"For how long?"

"Most of my life off and on, but now, I'm committed for good."

"Interesting. Do you want to attend a seminary when you're older?"

Frisk paused and reflected for a moment. He hadn't thought that far ahead. He was so busy living day-to-day that he never even thought about it.

"I don't know," Frisk said honestly. "I don't know what I want to be when I grow up."

"You are still young," Mettaton said. "How old are you exactly?"

"10," Frisk replied.

"Oh, wow, you're not very old at all."

"Nope."

"Well, that's enough of me asking," Mettaton said as he got up off his chair and faced the audience. "Hey, my lovely audience! Is there anything you would like to ask the human before I move on to the therapy portion of our show? Anything at all? Come on. Don't be shy."

To Frisk, Undyne, and Papyrus' surprise, almost every hand in the audience went up.

"Alright, you, in the front," Mettaton said calling on a small bunny child.

"What's your favorite color?" the bunny asked innocently.

"Uh…I don't have a favorite," Frisk answered shyly. "I like all colors about the same, but I prefer darker shades if that makes sense."

"Oh, okay," she replied tilting her head quizzically. "Do you like cooking? I love cooking."

"I've only made eggs with my Mom once," Frisk said a bit more comfortably. "I made a large muffin this morning unintentionally. It was kinda fun. I don't think I'd mind doing it again, especially if my new brother was helping."

That response made Papyrus' heart rise with joy and Undyne's heart sink with dread.

"You should try making sushi. I like making sushi…" the rabbit girl started to say with a large smile on her face.

"Thank you, sweetheart, but we need to let other people ask questions now," Mettaton said gently as almost everyone in the audience went back to raising their hands. "Okay? Now, who's next? How about you, in the orange sweater, towards the middle?"

An orange monster with horns on his head wearing an orange sweater asked, "What happened to your parents?"

Frisk's expression fell. The monster instantly regretted his question.

"Uh, Frisk, you don't have to answer if you don't want to…" the orange monster started to say.

"They were murdered," Frisk said succinctly while trying to hold back his tears.

The audience fell silent. Undyne tried her best not to get upset while Papyrus looked down nervously.

"Frisk, I'm so sorry," the orange monster said with deep remorse behind his voice as he sat down.

The whole audience put their hands down. From far away, Sans could feel his eye glowing. For a moment, Mettaton was unsure of how to continue until the rabbit girl's mother, the shopkeeper from Snowdin, raised her hand.

"Yes?" Mettaton asked.

"Frisk," she said gently as Frisk looked up to meet the familiar voice. "What were your parents like?"

A warm smile brightened up Frisk's face as he began, "They were the best parents in the world. They were the cool parents most kids wished they had. They would sometimes let me stay up late on school nights, so we could do cool things at night like hang out with their friends or learn how to use our magic in the backyard or learn songs on the piano and electric guitar and things like that. We had so much fun together. I loved them so much…"

Frisk paused to take a breath as the rabbit lady gestured for him to continue. Frisk was happy to.

"My Mom was so funny," Frisk said. "She was so weird and crazy and random. She always had so much energy and would say odd things. It always made me laugh, especially when I was in a bad mood. She was sweet, but she was really tough, too. She taught me how to fight and taught me how to use my magic. My Dad did, too…"

"What was your father like, Frisk?" the bunny woman asked.

Frisk paused for a second and smiled sadly at her.

A few tears went down his cheek when he said, "He was my best friend…"

Back at Toriel's home, Sans' eye sockets were attentively glued to the screen.

"My Dad was a lot like me," Frisk said. "He liked to keep to himself. He was quiet and shy around most people, but around us and his friends, he was different, especially with me. We didn't always have to talk, but somehow, we always understood each other, and he always knew what I needed to hear. I could relax around him, especially after a hard day at school when everyone was mean to me. Sometimes, we would read books, or he would teach me songs on the guitar or we'd listen to music or he taught me things about determination. Other times, we just talked about whatever, literally anything. In a way, I think he saw me more as his friend than his son…"

"Don't go too far," he heard Him say.

Frisk suddenly realized how long he had been going on and timidly went silent. The audience was completely silent for a good moment.

"Does that answer your question?" Mettaton asked breaking the silence.

"Yes," the rabbit woman said. "Your parents sound like fantastic people, Frisk. I'm sure they'd be proud."

Frisk smiled shyly in response.

Back in the Ruins, Sans went back to work and reflected on his own life.

"Moving right along," Mettaton said hoping to pick up the pace again as other hands rose. "Does anyone else have a question? Oh, how about you in upper left corner? The one on fire."

A fire monster that was the same species as Grillby stood up and asked very loudly, "Do humans wear underwear?"

Frisk looked up in dumbfounded embarrassment for a second as he struggled to gain his composure and said, "Yes."

His answer seemed to embolden the others who started waving their arms more furiously.

"Oh, do calm down," Mettaton said. "There's plenty of room for everyone…"

The questions kept coming for a while. Some were innocent and asked about his friends on the surface or whether he was old enough to drive a car. Others were more serious ones asking about how he lived after his parents died, and subsequently, how he lived as a homeless child on the surface.

After about 30 minutes, Mettaton suddenly said, "My lovely audience, I do apologize, but it is time to move on to the therapeutic portion of our show."

Several members of the audience groaned in disappointment while Frisk's heart skipped a beat in terror.

"Don't worry, my beauties," Mettaton said rolling back to his seat. "You can send all your other questions in later. I'll tell you how at the end of the show…"

"Excuse me, Mettaton," Frisk said quietly. "What do you mean by 'therapy?'"

"I mean exactly that, Frisk," Mettaton said looking back to his young charge. "This show is called 'Psychology with Mettaton' after all."

"You never mentioned this," Frisk said suspiciously while Undyne and Sans leered from their seats.

"Frisk, dear, what did you expect?" Mettaton asked pointing to the title above the monitor on the wall and trying to regain control. "It is a psychology show. What would a psychology show be without any talk about psychology? It won't take too long, and you'll get your surprise afterwards. Is that alright?"

Frisk's eyes followed Mettaton's finger as he pointed to the sign above. This was not what he signed up for, but if it was only a few questions…

"Okay," Frisk said timidly.

"Alright, first question, dear," Mettaton asked happily. "Why do you feel depressed?"

Frisk and the rest of the audience went silent.

"What?" Frisk asked incredulously.

"You heard me, sweetie," Mettaton said. "Why do you specifically feel depressed?"

"Who said I feel depressed?"

"You wouldn't be here if you weren't, child."

Frisk quickly caught onto his meaning and felt his heart drop and burn in anger.

"My Dad told me that depression has many causes…" Frisk replied cautiously.

"That is true," Mettaton said before giving a quick aside to the audience. "Psychology has taught us that. Depression, which is an intensely sad emotional state characterized by low feelings of self-worth or guilt and a reduced ability to enjoy life, can be caused by guilt, grief, neglect, suppressed anger, genetics, or by biological factors. Frisk, do you feel that your depression is caused by any of those things?"

"Yes," Frisk said to be brief as possible while the audience murmured amongst themselves in pity.

Mettaton smiled inwardly at their response and sighed while Sans watched on his phone and silently wondered how many bones he could stick through the robot's head.

"I understand that you don't want to talk about your problems with me, darling, but you need to," Mettaton replied gently. "You're not happy. Why don't you be more specific about why?"

"You're not a psychiatrist," Frisk said impatiently as he shifted in his seat. "Why do you need to know?"

"Talking about your issues could help others like you," Mettaton replied. "Don't you want to help other monsters?"

"Not like this! You're a quack!" Frisk yelled angrily.

The audience murmured more loudly at the outburst.

"Frisk…" Papyrus said quietly while Undyne fumed and furiously dug holes into the cushion of her seat with her nails.

Mettaton sighed deeply and replied calmly and condescendingly while he reached over and held Frisk's hands in his as he looked into the child's upset eyes, "Alright, dear. Calm down. It's okay. I know you're only taking out your pent-up anger on me because you're afraid of being vulnerable with others. But I know the deeper reason behind your dark emotions. I mean. It's obvious. You're still mourning the death of your parents and the fact that you were neglected and left to survive on your own for almost three years…"

"Well, duh," Frisk said as he pulled his hands out of his grip and turned away from the audience and Mettaton to hide the tears coming from his eyes. "But you can't do anything about it?"

"Oh, but I can," Mettaton said rolling out of his seat and standing into the middle of the stage. "And I'll tell you exactly how as soon as I show my patient audience my AMAZING, NEW BODY!"

The lights dimmed to darkness. The stage filled with smoke. A drumroll started playing. The audience cheered in anticipation while Frisk and his friends watched fearfully from their seats. Frisk turned around, sat on his knees, gripped the top of the couch, and watched over it in anticipation. Nothing good ever came from this.

Mettaton posed dramatically as Frisk saw a stage hand run behind him and flip the switch on his back before running off-stage again. As Mettaton morphed into Mettaton EX, Frisk's fingers gripped the couch more tightly as the memories flooding back in made his small body quake in absolute terror. His mind went back into its cloud as the lights came up and he continued to grip the couch against the loud cheers of the audience.

Papyrus immediately saw what was happening, elbowed Undyne's side to get her attention, and said, "Undyne, it's happening again. He's having a PTSD attack."

"Shit…" Undyne responded back as she noticed what was happening.

Mettaton looked back and saw the same thing. The audience slowly grew silent.

"Darling, are you okay?" Mettaton asked as he walked over until he could place a robotic hand on Frisk's trembling head and turn around to yell at his staff. "Please bring us some water! I don't think he's feeling good."

Mettaton, showing a surprising amount of tenderness, picked Frisk up, cradled him in his arms, and sat down in his chair.

"What's wrong with him?" someone from the audience asked.

"He's scared," Mettaton said holding him close while a stagehand handed him a name-brand water bottle that he opened and put to Frisk's lips. "From all the psychology research I read last night, it seems that he's having a panic attack. Don't know what could have triggered it. He's probably dealing with an anxiety disorder, too. You poor, neglected child…"

The water dribbling down Frisk's lip was enough to wake him up and bring him back to reality. He looked up to his surprise to see Mettaton holding him on his lap and scrambled out of it as quickly as he could. Frisk landed on the floor and continued breathing hard.

"Frisk, what ever is the matter?" Mettaton asked while screwing the top on the water bottle and handing it to Frisk. "It's me, Mettaton. I apologize, darling. I didn't know you had anxiety issues. I didn't mean to scare you. I should have given you a warning before I did that. Please forgive me. Just drink some water and catch your breath, dear, while I tell you about your fabulous prizes so you can go home. Alright?"

Frisk nodded, took the water bottle, and got back into his seat while he tried to regain his composure.

The audience murmured in excitement as happy, upbeat music filled the air.

"Now, Frisk, for being such a good sport as the first human on the show, I have a number of fabulous prizes to give you today!" Mettaton announced while strutting out of his chair.

The audience cheered in excitement as Frisk, Undyne, Papyrus, and the other friends watching breathed a collective sigh of relief. The show would be ending, and they would all finally get to go home and go on with their lives…

"Firstly, as promised, dear," Mettaton said pulling out another check out of nowhere. "Here's your check for one million G!"

Frisk smiled and took the money. This would help his new family so much…

"In addition, I'm getting you a scholarship to any school you want," Mettaton said. "How does that sound?"

Frisk smiled and nodded in response as the audience cheered more loudly.

"But thirdly is the greatest prize of all," Mettaton said while gesturing for the crowd to be silent and allowing the drumroll to start up again. "For you see, my lovely audience, this prize will give Frisk everything he needs to get over his psychological issues and live a prosperous life. He will no longer want for anything or have a single care in the world! He'll have the best care that money can buy and have everything his orphaned heart could possibly desire! What is that prize you might ask…?"

Undyne and Papyrus were on the edge of their seats waiting to hear what their child would be getting. Sans, Toriel, and Alphys were doing the same.

Meanwhile, Frisk was admiring his check for one million G. This was a rough day on him, but it wasn't too bad. Now, Frisk could go home, and his family would discuss how to use their new money. Everything went perfectly…

"IT'S ME!" Mettaton announced. "AS OF TODAY, FRISK HAS BEEN ADOPTED AS MY OWN!"

"What?!" Frisk and all his friends yelled at once.

Frisk, Undyne, and Papyrus could almost hear their hearts stop in shock. They could barely hear the audience go wild with excitement.

Mettaton smirked at Frisk before strutting off-stage to his audience in his high heels so the press could swarm him with their cameras.

Thankfully, Frisk had enough experience to know how to react in high-pressure situations like this one. He pulled out his phone, sent Undyne a quick text message, and ran off-stage while no one was looking.

Papyrus noticed and started to say something, but Undyne shut his mouth and pointed to her phone. Frisk had sent a text message that read, "Meet me by the boat now!"

Papyrus nodded in understanding as he and Undyne quickly and quietly ran out of the studio as quickly as they could.

Meanwhile, Frisk was bolting down the back stairs as fast as he could. This was not as bad as before. This was much worse.


	61. Chapter 61

Frisk got out of sight easily.

The only obstacle he faced once off-stage was the fire man stage manager who asked him where he was going. Once Frisk told his lie, he let him go and warned him about getting his mic wet in the bathroom.

After that, Frisk ran straight for the backstairs still carrying the water bottle in one hand and removing his mic with the other. Just as he reached the stairs, he threw the lavalier mic on the floor and bolted through the door as fast as his little legs would carry him.

Frisk felt his frightened tears running down his face and blinding his vision, but he didn't dare stop lest Mettaton seize the opportunity to drag him back. He wished his determination was healed so that he could make himself run faster. He wished he had known better than to agree to any of this. More than anything else, he wished his new family was right there to encourage him.

As if an answer to prayer, Frisk felt his phone vibrating. He stopped to catch his breath and look at it. It was Sans.

Without hesitation, Frisk answered the phone and said, "Sans?"

"Kid, I watched the show," Sans said from the other end. "Where the hell are you right now?!"

"I'm going down the backstairs," Frisk said between breaths. "Mettaton doesn't know I'm gone yet. I'm meeting Papyrus and Undyne outside by a boat."

"Then, why are you still in there? Move your ass now!" Sans yelled.

"Okay," Frisk said nervously resuming his quick pace down the stairs.

"Frisk, what were you thinking?! For God's sake, you remember what has happened every single time you have faced that freak! What possessed you to go along with his crap this time?!"

"I'm sorry! He said he would give me money!"

"You did all this just to have some extra spending money?"

"It wasn't for me! It was for you and Papyrus!"

Sans went silent on the other end for a moment before he responded in a gentler tone, "What? Why were you trying to get us money?"

"I wanted to help you guys out," Frisk responded sadly slowing down just as he was getting close to the back exit. "Mettaton said that you guys needed money to take care of me and that I'd be able to make it easier on you, so I thought that if I did what he said and got us money then I could help you out and not be so useless. I mean you guys have done so much for me, and there's nothing I can do to pay you back. I can't break the barrier or set you free, so I thought the least I could do was make you richer so that you could be happy down here."

On Sans' end, the phone was on speaker so Toriel could hear. She looked up from her paperwork to see a terrible sight. Both Sans' eyes were glowing bright blue and his free hand was rolled up in a fist. He was furious.

"Sans?" Frisk asked nervously as he cautiously walked through the back door.

"Frisk, you didn't have to do that for us," Sans replied in an astonishingly calm tone. "We're family. We'd never ask you to sell yourself out for us. We're the legal guardians and big brothers. We're the ones who're supposed to figure out money, not you. Understood, kiddo?"

"Yes, I'm sorry," Frisk said quietly while powerwalking to the boathouse.

"Another thing, you ain't useless," Sans said. "Stop saying you are. Are you on the boat yet?"

"Yeah," Frisk said stepping into the boathouse and immediately being scooped up by Papyrus.

"Oh, Frisk! Thank God!" Papyrus said holding him tightly against his armor. "I thought we lost you. Who are you talking to?"

"Sans," Frisk said trying to squirm out. "Papyrus, put me down!"

"Shut up and let me talk to him," Undyne said snatching the phone away from Frisk and holding the receiver next to her ear. "Sans, it's me. We got him. What do you want us to do? What? Okay…okay…yeah, sure…We'll go straight there. See you soon."

Undyne handed the phone back to Frisk, hopped on the Ferryman's boat, and said, "Get your asses on board now. We're heading to the Ruins."

"Why are we going there?" Papyrus asked as he hopped on with Frisk still in his arms.

"That's where Toriel is," Undyne replied picking up the oar and using her magic to command the boat to move. "Never met her, but she's a friend of Sans' and is evidently Frisk's fourth legal guardian, so I trust her. Now, sit tight. With this boat, it shouldn't be long."

"Anything else?" Frisk said as the boat got going.

"Yeah, you're grounded for another week," Undyne said.

"Dammit," Frisk mumbled under his breath.

The boat quickly galloped around the bend. They were just in time.

Back in the studio, Mettaton was still basking in the applause of his audience and the attention of his paparazzi when one of the photographers asked, "How about we get a picture of you and your new son?"

"That sounds like a great idea," Mettaton said before calling to his child. "Frisk, dear, could you come here for a moment?"

"Hey! He's not here!" another photographer yelled.

Mettaton turned around quickly to see that Frisk was not on the couch where he was before.

"Oh, dear," Mettaton said successfully hiding the flutter of panic running through his circuits. "Would you give me a moment?"

Mettaton cleared a path through the paparazzi, stepped onto the stage, walked backstage, pulled his stage manager aside, and asked, "Have you seen Frisk?"

"He said he was going to the bathroom, but that was about fifteen minutes ago," he said. "Maybe one of us should check to make sure he's alright."

Mettaton's eyes narrowed in suspicion. He peaked out behind the curtain and saw that neither Undyne or Papyrus were at their seats, and his heart began to race.

"Shit," Mettaton said quietly to himself before stepping on-stage and announcing, "My lovely audience, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we are having some technical difficulties and have to go into an hour-long intermission. Don't worry. We'll be back as soon as we can. In the meantime, enjoy some refreshments and merchandise in the lobby."

Mettaton went back behind the curtain while tensing up at their disappointed groans.

"Mettaton, what is the matter?" his stage manager asked.

"My son's friends aren't in the audience anymore. That means they ran away together," Mettaton said allowing the tension to show in his voice.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I had to physically push them out just to get them to leave me and the human alone for a few hours. They wouldn't leave without him willingly. I thought I prepared for every possibility. I fully expected his 'family' to be upset about the adoption announcement and try to fight me for him, but I didn't expect my son to react so quickly. The boy is more resourceful than I thought."

"Okay, this is bad. Do you think we should call the royal guard? This is technically kidnapping. Isn't it?"

"Undyne is the captain of the royal guard. I couldn't bribe one of her underlings to cross her. They're too loyal."

"Then, what do we do?"

A smile came across Mettaton's face as an idea crossed his mind and he said, "You're going to make sure my audience has enough nourishment and merchandise to keep their lovely hearts' content. I have a plan. I'm going to get my son back myself."

"Sir," the stage manager said as Mettaton turned around and started to walk away. "Undyne is really strong. Her friend looked strong, too. How are you going to stop them?"

"My dear Inferno, this is Mettaton you're talking to," Mettaton said posing dramatically and confidently. "There's nothing I can't handle with style and a smile. I love that. Please make a note to put it on some merch later. I've gotta go."

Mettaton winked and walked away leaving Inferno to take care of the studio while he tracked down his son. He walked the hallways looking for any trace of his child as he headed towards where he suspected Frisk headed to.

As Mettaton approached the back stairs, he saw Frisk's microphone thrown haphazardly on the floor. He smiled and stomped his foot on the floor to make his magic portal to the boathouse.

Mettaton then jumped through the hole and shut it behind him. As he looked around the boathouse, he saw with little surprise that the trio had already left.

In response, Mettaton walked to the edge of the dock, looked out across the water, picked up his phone, and made a phone call to an employee at the casino in the city.


	62. Chapter 62

Meanwhile Frisk and Papyrus were sitting on the boat while Undyne was directing the boat. They were just passing by the city.

"I can't believe that asshole," Undyne said as Frisk ruffled his hair to mess it up. "Where the hell does he get off trying to steal you like that?"

"Yeah," Papyrus said. "I don't understand why Mettaton's being so mean. He's usually so nice on his shows."

"He was just pretending to be nice until he got what he wanted, Papyrus," Frisk said sadly looking up at him. "I've seen lots of people like that on that surface. My parents warned me about them. I'm glad they did. It taught me how to avoid them in school and on the streets."

Papyrus looked at him curiously and asked, "Are lots of people like that?"

"Well, like I said before, most people are just apathetic, but there are people who are willing to hurt anyone just to get something they want," Frisk replied honestly. "Sometimes, the ancient scriptures say, they even delight in being bad. It makes some people happy…"

"Like Flowey?" Papyrus asked sadly.

"Yeah," Frisk replied looking away at him and up at the buildings they were riding past in the river.

For a moment, Frisk was silent as he simply gazed at the city. He had never noticed how large it was. He had never noticed how bright and beautiful it was in its own way either.

Frisk smiled as he took out his phone and started taking pictures of the passing buildings.

"What are you doing, Frisk?" Papyrus asked.

"If we have to hide in the Ruins for a while, then I won't get to see the city again for a while," Frisk said without looking at him. "I'm taking pictures, so I can look at them while we're hiding. I want to come back here."

Papyrus smiled as he stood up, picked up Frisk, grabbed his phone from him, and adjusted the photo settings to take a selfie.

"Papyrus, what are you doing?" Frisk asked.

"We're taking a selfie," Papyrus said happily. "I, the Great Papyrus, have been your big brother for two days, but we don't have a single photo with us together. That will not do at all! So, smile!"

Frisk smiled as Papyrus snapped several photos of the two of them together.

"Hey, Undyne!" Frisk said. "You should come in. You're my big sister, right?"

"Frisk, I can't," Undyne said anxiously. "I'm steering the boat here."

"Come now, Undyne," Papyrus said persuasively. "Surely, you can do two things at once. You are capable enough to do that."

"Well, you are right," Undyne said proudly. "Okay, come over here. Let's have a family photo."

"Yay!" Papyrus said as he handed off Frisk to Undyne and wrapped his arm around them both before taking a few more selfies.

Suddenly, their boat lowered into the water causing them all to fall off-balance on top of each other on its floor.

"Frisk? Undyne?" Papyrus asked scrambling off his friends as quickly as he could.

"I'm fine," Frisk said as Undyne crawled off him allowing him to stand up and take his phone back from Papyrus. "What was that?"

"Over there," Undyne said gesturing directly ahead of them to the shore where the two figures were walking towards them.

Frisk did a double take. He recognized the hooded owner of the ferry with the magic glowing from his skeletal hand and the disgruntled employee walking next to him, even though the latter was wearing jeans and a hoodie instead of his regular uniform.

"What the hell is your problem? You could have killed us, you…" Undyne yelled.

"Oh, hey there, River!" Papyrus interrupted quickly while hiding Frisk behind him as they stepped on shore. "There, you are. I'm so sorry. We didn't recognize you from so far away! You're just the monster we were looking for. Undyne and I were doing some training when we caught Mettaton trying to sell your boat without your permission. We got it back for you…"

"Yeah, and we just got through kicking his ass, so you shouldn't worry have to worry about him for a while either," Undyne said following behind him. "No need to thank us! We're just doing our job."

Frisk hardly breathed as Papyrus moved him in front of him and pushed him ahead as they started powerwalking away towards the city, and said, "We'd love to chat, but we're so famished from the fight and there are so many good restaurants here..."

"Yeah," Undyne agreed turning her head back while walking next to Papyrus to hide Frisk more completely from view. "Call us if you have problems!"

Their lie seemed to work for a few moments.

"Great job, Papyrus," Undyne whispered.

"Yeah, I can't believe that worked," Frisk whispered.

"Me neither," Papyrus whispered back.

Unfortunately, that was when River and Burgerpants shortcut in front of them much to their chagrin.

"Nice try," Burgerpants said with a snide smile. "But my boss called us about ten minutes ago at the casino. Frisk, you need to go back to the studio with us. Your Dad's not too happy that you ran off…"

Frisk's face twisted into an angry expression as he snapped, "Tell that mofo that he's not my Dad, so I don't have to do a damn thing he says!"

"Easy, human," Burgerpants replied as he took out his phone. "I'm just doing my job…"

"Wait a second," Papyrus said quizzically. "Why in the world were you at a casino?"

"It was Mettaton's idea. He sent me there to keep River entertained when he paid him to borrow his boat. Oh, my God! It was amazing! I hated leaving. We were doing so well…" Burgerpants trailed off.

"My new friend and I won 10,000G," River said excitedly.

"I know, right?" Burgerpants said turning to his friend and seeming to forget his job for the moment. "I still can't believe it. Who would have thought that you were so good at gambling?!"

"Now, Burgerpants, you should be careful about saying things like that. It makes you sound racist."

"You're absolutely right, River. I'm sorry for hurting your feelings. You know. I've learned so much from you today. I can't believe we've only known each other for less than 12 hours…"

"Yeah…" River said happily while looking back towards the trio. "Burgerpants, I think we've lost something."

Burgerpants looked up and saw that Papyrus, Undyne, and Frisk had, in fact, disappeared.

"I'm so fired," Burgerpants said in a panic before spotting them on top of the boardwalk next to the buildings. "Wait, there they are!"

In one move of his hand, Burgerpants managed to pick all of them up telekinetically at once and immediately teleported them back to where he was before dropping them on the ground. He then magically created floating condiment bottles that squirted fire.

"Nice try!" Burgerpants psychotically leering at them all on the ground. "But I am not losing the only job I have because some monsters and a human decided they didn't feel like listening to me…"

"Um, Burgerpants," Frisk interrupted in confusion while he and his friends were still rubbing their sore spots on the ground. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Burgerpants replied immediately regaining his calm composure.

"The telekinesis, teleportation, and magical condiments thing," Frisk replied.

"Yeah, this kinda came out of nowhere," Papyrus added.

"Your HP and CP shouldn't even be high enough to do that kind of magic," Undyne said.

Burgerpants' expression sank back into disappointment.

Then he said, "What? Just because I'm not strong like you two are, I can't have any magical skills to speak of? I was hired at the burger joint for my magical skills! You're the real racists!"

"What?" Undyne asked with a confused expression on her face.

"Please, you can't let him take me," Frisk said standing up and walking up to Burgerpants with a pleading look in his eyes. "I already have a family with these two and two others who aren't here. They're signing the adoption papers today. Mettaton knew that, but he doesn't care. He's trying to kidnap me!"

Burgerpants' eyes softened into a look of pity as his magical condiment bottles disappeared.

"The kid is telling the truth," Undyne said walking up behind Frisk.

"Yeah," Papyrus said appearing behind Undyne. "If you try to take Frisk, you'll be an accomplice! And that's bad!"

Burgerpants stared at his phone and hesitated for a moment as River said, "He's right. You know."

"I know, River, but if I lose this job, I can kiss my acting dream goodbye," Burgerpants said. "I'm 19! I'm too old to change my career path now…"

"What if we make it worth your while?" Frisk interrupted quickly coming up with an idea.

"What are you talking about?" Burgerpants replied.

"Well, what if we added to whatever amount of money you spent gambling today? Could you forget you saw us?"

Burgerpants looked at Frisk pitifully and said, "Kid, that is really sweet, but to be an actor, I'd have to hire an agent and that costs more than your average allowance if you know what I mean…"

"How about 50,000G?" Frisk asked.

Burgerpants' eyes and smile grew wide with excitement.

"That would help with my friend's costs considerably," River said with a smile in his voice.

"Undyne, do you still have the check?" Frisk asked.

Undyne smiled, pulled the check out of her pocket, handed it to Burgerpants, and said, "Here, you go. Now, you think you can forget you saw us?"

"Well, I wouldn't technically be lying if I said I didn't see your boat go past the city…" Burgerpants replied taking the check and immediately shrugging in disappointment. "I can't take this."

"What do you mean?" Frisk asked desperately.

"Why not?!" Undyne asked in frustration.

"Because it's signed under Frisk's name," Burgerpants said showing the spot where Frisk's name was written on the check.

"Can't you simply cross it out and write your name instead?" Papyrus offered.

"That is illegal," River said. "Burgerpants would be accused of stealing and be sent to jail. I know. I used to be a lawyer who specialized in financial crimes."

"Well, uh, couldn't he just get the money for you?" Papyrus asked hopefully. "That's legal, right? It'd be like a present."

Everyone turned to River who stood there thinking of a response while they waited with baited breath.

Finally, he said, "That is technically legal, but such a large withdrawal of money from a bank at once would draw suspicion. Mettaton's bank would most certainly call him and clue him in to where you are."

Papyrus thought for another minute and suggested, "What if we gave it to you in small increments?"

"That could work. You would still be getting the money that way, Burgerpants," River said.

"I don't know," Burgerpants said while pondering. "I still could risk getting in trouble with the boss before I even get the first payment…"

Undyne couldn't take it anymore.

She screamed in frustration, pulled out her spear, pushed Frisk and Papyrus behind her, and yelled, "WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS CRAP! YOU ARE GOING TO LET US GO OR I'M GOING TO IMPALE YOU HERE AND NOW, TWERP!"

"Fine, take back your stinkin' money!" Burgerpants yelled while wadding the check into a ball and throwing it back to Frisk as his magical condiment bottles materialized again. "I haven't used my powers for anything besides fast food service work anyway!"

"If both parties are in agreement, the fight shall commence," River said formally.

"Get out of here, you two!" Undyne yelled. "Cash that money in for a nice hotel! I'll catch up with you later!"

"Okay," Frisk said stuffing the check in his pocket, taking Papyrus' hand, and trying to run away while Papyrus refused to budge. "Let's go, Papyrus!"

"But Undyne…" Papyrus began.

"Papyrus, that's an order from your captain! Move your ass!" Undyne yelled before she and Burgerpants charged at each other with their respective weapon.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am," Papyrus said enthusiastically scooping Frisk into his arms and running back towards the boardwalk.

Unfortunately, they didn't get too far before a force field of lightning blocked their path.

Both their stomachs dropped as Frisk whimpered, "Oh, no…"

As if on cue, Mettaton posed between Undyne and Burgerpants and stopped them both in their tracks.

"Boss?!" Burgerpants asked.

"Tisk, tisk, Undyne," Mettaton said with an annoyingly arrogant look in his eye. "I expected better from you. You should know better than to start a fight in front of a child. Speaking of which, I believe you have someone who belongs to me."

"PISS OFF, YOU LYING JACKASS!" Frisk screamed from Papyrus' arms.

Mettaton looked over to see Frisk glaring bullets at him. It took Mettaton aback for a moment to see such anger behind the boy's eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.

Mettaton looked at Frisk condescendingly as Papyrus slipped back next to Undyne and said, "There, you are. I've been so worried…"

"Yeah, I'm sure, liar," Frisk replied sarcastically.

"Darling, is that any way to speak to your new Daddy? I never lied to you. I told you I would send you home with money. I just never mentioned whose home you were going to…"

"You are not my Dad, and that's still lying by omission!" Frisk yelled.

"I wanted it to be a surprise," Mettaton replied calmly.

"Bullshit!" Undyne yelled. "You knew we were signing the adoption papers! You just wanted to steal him from us, asshole!"

"Such violent behavior and around a child, too," Mettaton reprimanded while shaking his head.

"I've seen worse," Frisk spat back in response.

"Frisk, hush," Papyrus chided.

"I know you have, you poor little thing," Mettaton said walking up to Papyrus until he was looking directly into Frisk's eyes. "You were homeless after all. You must be so traumatized by what you've had to see and endure. You need some expensive therapy to help you get over it. That's why I'm here to help you. If you were smarter, you'd accept my help instead of running away with such violent ruffians the moment I turn my back, but I suppose that is why I have to be the adult and make the right decision for you."

Before Frisk could blink, Mettaton had pulled him out of Papyrus' arms and into his own.

"Let me go!" Frisk yelled while struggling furiously to get out of Mettaton's arms.

Papyrus stood there in shock while Undyne materialized a spear and held it to Mettaton's neck.

"You let Frisk go or I'll show you exactly why I was made the captain of the royal guard, asshole," Undyne threatened in a quiet but intimidating tone that Papyrus had never heard.

"It seems that we're at an impasse," Mettaton said calmly. "Neither of us is willing to let the child go. It looks like we'll be having a custody battle…"

Before Mettaton could continue, Frisk opened his water bottle and splashed its contents into Mettaton's face hoping to make him short circuit. It appeared to work. It disoriented him long enough for Frisk to escape his hold and run behind Undyne. Papyrus broke out of his daze and did the same thing while Mettaton dramatically shook his head and acted like he was damaged.

"Frisk…" Mettaton moaned dramatically while twitching his head. "How…how could you do this to me? I feel…I feel…So very sexy!"

Mettaton flipped his hair dramatically and said, "Nice try, dear, but this body was designed to be waterproof in case of potential stage accidents. Still, I must give you credit. You're highly resourceful for a child. That will benefit us both…"

"Like hell," Frisk spat back from behind Undyne.

"He ain't going back with you, freak," Undyne said backing away with Frisk and her spear held in front of her. "So, piss off."

"So, there's no way you'll let him go willingly?" Mettaton asked while strutting away in the sand as best he could.

"No, we saw him first!" Papyrus yelled with a devastated heart. "We are not letting you take our little brother away! So, stop being so mean!"

"Well then, I guess this means we're going to have a CUSTODY BATTLE!" Mettaton yelled posing happily as his upbeat music and cameras broadcasting back to the studio appeared out of nowhere and everyone looked around in confusion. "Ladies and gentlemen, tonight, I have a bonus treat for you! It turns out that Frisk has another party interested in raising him, so to resolve our dispute, they will endure the CUSTODY BATTLE OBSTACLE COURSE! If our two contestants can finish the obstacle course before the show is over or if the other brother shows up at the studio with his paperwork beforehand, they will be allowed to take Frisk home with them! But if they lose, Frisk will be all mine! My dear contestants…"

"Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton!" Papyrus yelled while Undyne's expression fell in shock and Alphys spat out her coffee from her seat on the tram she was riding on.

"Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton," Mettaton said with barely disguised amusement. "Do you accept these terms?"

"Hell yeah!" Undyne yelled. "We'll kick its ass and yours, pretty boy!"

"Yeah!" Papyrus agreed. "The Great Papyrus never says no to a challenge!"

"Don't worry, guys," Frisk said. "We'll get through this…"

"We?!" Mettaton said somehow reaching Frisk's arm from behind and pulling him away from his friends. "Oh, you silly little thing. You're not helping them."

"What?!" Frisk yelled in a panic almost at the point of tears. "Why not?! Let me go!"

"Out of the question," Mettaton said condescendingly. "What kind of father would I be if I put my weak and traumatized little darling in harm's way?"

"Never stopped you before," Frisk muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Mettaton asked. "You were too quiet for me and the microphones, darling."

Once again, Undyne had had enough.

She pointed her spear at Mettaton, charged at him, and yelled, "How many times do I have to tell you to leave our kid alone?!"

Unfortunately, Undyne and Papyrus felt the floor fall from underneath them the next second, and they both fell through the trapdoor into an obstacle course.

"NO!" Frisk screamed as he shook his hand out of Mettaton's grip and ran towards the portal only for it to disappear on him as he approached it.

Frisk fell on his knees where the opening used to be. Tears were streaming down Frisk's face as he dug his hands into the sand to find the opening.

"Where is it?!" Frisk asked as frantically felt his way around in the sand. "Where did it go?! I have to find them!"

"Frisk, that is enough of that," Mettaton said disapprovingly as he pulled Frisk out of the sand and back into his arms. "You should know better than to play in the sand when you're wearing nice clothes. Now, beauties and gentlebeauties, the intermission should only be about 30 more minutes, so be sure to come back to your seats! And cut…"

The cameras disappeared, and Frisk went back to struggling furiously.

He managed to slip out again, but Mettaton caught him by the wrist.

Frisk unsuccessfully struggled to get his hand out of Mettaton's while the latter was unfazed and said to Burgerpants and River who had been standing in stunned silence the whole time, "Good work, Burgie. As promised, you will be getting a raise and a better job. You'll be this little guy's babysitter. How does that sound?"

Frisk locked eyes with Burgerpants. He stared at him pleadingly.

Burgerpants felt a knot grow in his stomach as he said, "That sounds great, boss."

"I was going to make today your first day, but I think he needs some serious parental bonding time so I'm going to keep him with me for right now," Mettaton said looking at Frisk who in turn avoided his gaze while continuing to struggle. "I'll call you if anything changes."

"Of course, Mettaton," Burgerpants said quietly.

"Splendid," Mettaton said picking up his new son and tapping his foot in the sand to create a portal back to his dressing room. "Now, come along, Frisk. You and Daddy need to have a little chat."

"You can make those with your feet?" Frisk asked quietly while Mettaton started rubbing his hair.

Frisk immediately shrank back at the gesture to Mettaton's sigh of disapproval.

"I'll see you later, Burgie," Mettaton said. "River, thank you again for the boat! It's all yours now."

Then without saying another word, Mettaton jumped back into the dressing room.

Meanwhile, at the obstacle course, Undyne and Papyrus were still rubbing their sore spots while sitting at the entrance of a large obstacle course blocked by a gate and a large sign above it bearing a timer counting down from 30 minutes.

"I swear to God the next time I see that bucket of bolts I'll dismantle him myself," Undyne fumed angrily.

Papyrus pulled out his phone and said, "I better update Sans. He's not going to be happy."


	63. Chapter 63

Back in the dressing room, Mettaton shut the portal behind him and put Frisk down on the floor as he said, "Ah, finally, we can have some time alone to talk. That was quite the show. Wasn't it?"

Frisk turned around with tears streaming down his face and screamed, "GO TO HELL!"

Mettaton looked at him disapprovingly, grabbed a towel from the bathroom, started rubbing his hair dry, and said, "Darling, I honestly don't understand why you're so upset. I thought being adopted by someone rich and famous was every orphan's dream."

"Not mine, dick," Frisk said glaring at him angrily.

"Ouch, that hurt," Mettaton said sarcastically while sitting down on the couch. "Never heard that one before."

Exasperated, Frisk ran to the other side of the couch, stood right in front of him, and asked, "Why are you doing this?! You don't want to kill me and take my soul like everyone else, but it's not like you have time to raise a child. Why do you want me so badly?"

Mettaton smiled, laid down on the couch, crossed his arms behind his head, and responded, "In a word, darling, ratings."

"What?" Frisk asked as his expression changed from angry to confused.

"I want you because you're too valuable to leave alone," Mettaton began. "It's funny. I did want to kill you and take your soul. Hell, I would have made a show of it, but seeing you interact with your brothers on Alphys' camera feed opened my mind to all the other possibilities. You see, when I saw you and how protective your brothers were of you after that horse merman attacked, I was so moved. It was so heartwarming and inspiring. I just had to have you on a reality show of some sort, so all the Underground could be inspired and entertained by you and your brothers. I tried running the idea by Sans, but he was dead against it. He wouldn't let me go near you. He was being ridiculously overprotective. So, I had to come up with other plans. Fortunately, my wonderful intuition helped me quickly come up with another plan that would bring even better ratings and be a bigger hit with the press. I'd adopt you myself. It would be huge and revolutionary! That hasn't been done since King Asgore and his family took in a fallen human child decades ago…"

"Wait, King Asgore raised a human child?" Frisk asked.

"Yes, but that's another story," Mettaton said putting his left hand under Frisk's chin to keep his attention. "The point is that since then the Underground hasn't had another royal family to inspire them the way you humans do on the surface with your celebrities. These poor monsters had little to occupy their attention or lift their spirits before I came along, but with you, we can change that. We can be that royal family that entertains them! It'll be perfect. You and I could be like business partners. You help me keep my lovely audience entertained, and on my end, I'll protect you, take care of you, and spoil you rotten. There's literally no downside."

"Not for you," Frisk said spitefully slapping his hand away and glaring right into his eyes. "But there is for me. I have a family already with Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, and Toriel. And you're not going to keep me from them. Ratings or no ratings."

Mettaton's hand resumed its former position as he said, "Darling, you're not looking at the greater good here. Think about what this could do for human and monster relations. Maybe once they realize that your kind isn't so bad, we could start taking trips to the surface and free everyone that way. That's a much better idea than letting Asgore take your soul so he can start another war with humanity. Isn't it? At any rate, it's better than Dr. Alphys' plan. You should have heard what she wanted to do with you. It was cringeworthy."

Frisk responded by opening his mouth and biting Mettaton's gloved hand.

"What the -? Stop that!" Mettaton said before moving his hand away from Frisk's face.

"I'm not going to fight Asgore or let him take my soul," Frisk said moving quietly to the door while Mettaton was examining his gloved hand. "I'm staying down here. Once Undyne and Papyrus win, I'm going home with them for good."

Frisk quietly opened the door and just managed to take a step out before Mettaton grabbed the neckline of his sweater and pulled him back in.

"It looks like someone's going to be keeping me on my toes," Mettaton said bemusedly as he picked him up and placed him on the sofa next to him. "We'll see how your friends do, darling. If Papyrus and Undyne win or somehow Sans and your other friend manage to fill out all those adoption papers before the end of the show, you can go home with them and do whatever you like. But if they can't, well, after seeing all the psychiatrists I've lined up for you, you'll adjust."

Frisk replied spitefully, "I get it. So, either they win, and I go home, or you win and you'll brainwash me. I see how it is. But you must not know them very well if you think this will stop them."

Mettaton laughed gently, looked at his son, and said, "Frisk, darling, you misunderstand me. I'm not going to brainwash you. I'm going to win your love with my kindness."

"You're kidding," Frisk said looking back at him cynically.

"I'm not," Mettaton said. "I really do intend on spoiling you rotten in a way I never was. It'll be fabulous. You'll see. I'll only start seeking more hardcore methods if your condition does not improve, son."

Frisk responded with a glare and turned away and said, "I'm not your son."

"Whatever," Mettaton said looking away and acting like he didn't care. "I'm not much of a stickler when it comes to rules. I don't care if you give me back sass or if you talk to your little friends behind my back or anything like that. All I ask is that you do what I tell you when I tell you to do it, darling. That's not too hard. Is it, son?"

"I'm not your son," Frisk said still refusing to look at him.

"I'll reward you for behaving, which reminds me, if you keep listening to me, as a reward, we can pick up your girlfriend once you hit puberty," Mettaton said happily. "Hell, we can get her sooner when we go pick up your backpack if you want. With her around, we'd have plenty of opportunities for expanding the act if you catch my drift."

Frisk's eyes flashed in panic as he turned back to him and yelled with ferocious anger behind his voice, "If you go near Varda, you will die!"

Mettaton was taken aback for a moment, but he went back to his normal expression and said, "Okay, fine. It was only a suggestion. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, son."

Frisk had enough.

He stood up on the couch, ran over to Mettaton, and screamed, "CALL ME SON ONE MORE TIME!" before kicking Mettaton in his side plate causing his HP to drop by one.

When he realized what he had done, Frisk calmed down and said, "Oh, my God! Are you alright? I'm sorry!"

"I'm fine," Mettaton said calmly to disguise his annoyance before he picked Frisk up. "But you need a timeout."

Mettaton opened the door to the bathroom, dropped Frisk in, shut the door behind him, and said, "Stay in there until you empty your bladder's contents and do whatever else humans do to calm down before the intermission ends."

Frisk walked to the window, sighed deeply, and let himself shed a few tears.

After a second, Mettaton opened the door, tossed Frisk a water bottle, and said, "Here, keep yourself hydrated. I've read that humans need water to stay alive."

Mettaton slammed the door again to leave Frisk to his punishment and give himself a moment to think.


	64. Chapter 64

Mettaton sat at his vanity in his ghost form while his body was recharging against the wall. He stared down at his phone and researched articles on the undernet about parenting while Frisk sat on the edge of the tub and replied to the replies of the messages he sent out before he had "emptied his bladder's contents."

Sans responded right away. He had seen Mettaton's broadcast on the beach. He told him that Papyrus and Undyne were alright, that everything would be alright, that Toriel had a plan, and that Frisk needed to stay calm and to control his violent outbursts as much as he could so Mettaton wouldn't make an excuse to put Frisk with the psychiatrists sooner.

The slower response came from Napstablook. Frisk had begged him to intervene, to try to talk his cousin out of his insane plan, to come to his aid. Napstablook was responding. The three dots on his end kept pulsing, so Frisk figured he was typing a long message or he kept rewriting the same message repeatedly.

Frisk looked up and stared back out the window. He felt like his pulse was going at the speed of light. He knew he was panicking, but he couldn't possibly lay that burden on Sans, Papyrus, or anyone else. At least, his pride and guilt wouldn't let him. He sighed deeply. He longed to be back at the house enjoying the quiet morning he was earlier. It already felt so far away.

Unfortunately, that was when Frisk noticed the mirror. He walked over to it and looked it over. It was nothing special, just a square piece of glass attached to the wall. It looked almost exactly like the mirror he had tried to use the other day…

Frisk reached out, touched it with the tips of his fingers, and pondered. Just the other day, everything was so different. It was amazing when he thought about it. Before, he was alone. Before, he had to hide his heart from everyone. Before, the only one who knew of his past sins was Flowey. Before, he had given up. Before, his determination was strong, but his soul had lost its reason. Before, he had tried to take his own life…

Frisk smiled sadly and pulled his fingers back. Everything was going so well. He had a family again. He had real love in his life again. He was finally finding happiness in his life. But now, everything was wrong. All because he wanted to help.

Frisk's sad eyes filled with more tears as his mind continued to dwell on the dark thoughts. He never seemed to succeed whenever he tried to do something for someone else.

He tried resetting time until he could grant his friends freedom. That failed.

He tried making them breakfast. That kinda failed.

He tried to make enough money to put his new family in a good place financially. That failed miserably.

But worse of all, Frisk had tried to get his friends away from Mettaton. Now, two of the people he loved the most were in danger. All because of him.

"Maybe they're wrong," Frisk whispered to himself. "Maybe I really am useless."

Frisk pulled off his sweater and just held it in a bundle in his arms for a while. It would be so easy. He was fast. He could act before Mettaton could stop him. Then, he wouldn't be a burden on anyone else's life anymore.

That was when he heard His voice again.

"Frisk, sit down," the still, small voice said. "You're so weary. You need to rest."

Frisk obeyed without much thought. He sat down on top of the toilet and looked out the window again while clutching the sweater to his chest.

"Why would you want to end everything?" He said gently while Frisk shed a few more tears. "You've found happiness again."

"All I do is make people miserable," Frisk whispered out loud with tears falling more quickly. "First, Allie, then the Underground, now my friends. I can never seem to do anything right."

"You're not the only one ever to feel this way," the Almighty said. "Remember the warrior in the ancient scriptures, he was fleeing for his life from a king who couldn't accept that I made him his replacement. His heart was full of sorrow, sometimes because of his own sin, mostly because of his circumstances. Do you know how he dealt with his pain? I'll give you a clue. He wasn't quiet about it."

"I remember. He wrote poems and songs and shared them with others…"

"David was an artist. Just like you."

"I'm no artist…"

"You think I'm wrong about what I made?"

"You can't be wrong. That's impossible."

"Then?"

Frisk thought for a moment and said, "Okay…"

Frisk dropped his sweater on the floor, opened the notes app and typed his prose. The words started flowing slowly at first, but surprisingly quickly, the words started to flow like water. Very soon, he had a good page of prose going, and unexpectedly, Frisk found himself feeling better.

"You're not bad," He said.

"You're right," Frisk whispered with a smile. "I'm not."

"You should send this to Napstablook. I think he'd like to see it. You should send it to Sans and Papyrus, too."

"Are you sure? It's kind of sad…"

"Absolutely. It makes them sadder to not know how you're feeling."

"Okay, if you say so…"

Frisk sent his note to Napstablook, Sans, and to Papyrus and Undyne's group chat.

Unfortunately, that was when he saw Napstablook's reply, "Frisk, I want to help. I really do, but Hapsta is a different ghost than he used to be. He won't listen to me."

Frisk grimaced, but before he could think of a reply, he heard the door to the dressing room open and heard Mettaton say, "Hello? Dr. Alphys?! How did you get in here?"

Frisk cracked open the door and saw that Dr. Alphys was standing in the door looking nervous and that Mettaton was greeting her in his ghostly form.

"Wh-Where is he?" Alphys asked anxiously.

"Where is who?" Mettaton asked coyly.

"You know who I'm talking about," Alphys asked with a bit more courage behind her voice. "The human child. S-Sans and ev-everyone else are worried sick about him…"

"They are? Well, they have no need to be, Alphys…" Mettaton began.

"I'm right here!" Frisk yelled in the doorway of the bathroom before darting over to Alphys' side as quickly as he could and looking at her with pleading eyes. "Alphys, get me out of here. Please. He's a complete jackass who's ruining everything."

"Hey!" Mettaton said crossing his arms. "I take offense to that. You're just mad because I put you in timeout."

"I was in that situation in the first place because you're a jackass," Frisk said narrowing his gaze.

Alphys awkwardly held Frisk's hand to calm him down and said, "Hey! Don't worry. I'll get you out of this."

Then she looked at Mettaton and said, "Mettaton, how…how could you pull something like this? You knew that Frisk had a family already. Why would you try to steal him? What's the matter with you?"

Mettaton delivered a derisive smile and said, "Oh, that's something, coming from the one who wanted to put the child in danger just to be a part of his story…"

"I called that plan off and you know it!" Alphys said defensively. "You're the one who just couldn't leave him alone! You have no right to take Frisk from his family! I'm taking him back with me, and you're going to call this whole thing off right now!"

Mettaton quickly repossessed his body, unplugged himself from the wall, walked over to Alphys, looked down at her arrogantly, and said, "Or what, good doctor?"

Alphys took a deep breath, gathered her nerve, and said, "I'll…I'll take your body back!"

Frisk could tell that that response shook Mettaton to his core. For the first time in recent memory, he saw Mettaton's eyes flash with panic. It brought back an unpleasant memory...

"Good doctor, you can't…" Mettaton pleaded bringing Frisk's mind back to the presence.

"I will," Alphys said smiling with her new-found power. "I'll deactivate it and take it all back if you don't call the adoption off and give Frisk back to his family. So, what will it be?"

Mettaton looked down in resignation and said, "I suppose I have no choice."

He tapped his foot on the ground and created a portal under Alphys and Frisk for them to fall through. They fell through and landed on a bed in a room with walls painted light pink.

"What is this place?" Alphys asked as the trapdoor disappeared above them.

Frisk looked around and saw the diaries sitting on the floor. His eyes flashed in a panic as he realized exactly where they were.

"Alphys, we have to go! We're…" was all Frisk could get out before a familiar gloved hand covered his mouth.

"Hush, dear," Mettaton said as he picked Frisk up from behind without moving the glove from his mouth. "We wouldn't want to ruin the surprise now. Would we?"

Frisk tried yelling the answer and squirming out of his grip, but Mettaton held Frisk tightly and wouldn't let go.

"Mettaton, what-?" Alphys asked as she climbed off the bed and moved towards him.

"I'm sorry, dear doctor," Mettaton said with a slight trace of regret. "I really do appreciate everything you've done for me. I wouldn't be where I am without you. But the show must go on, and it can't go on unless my new son is with me. So, I'll leave you here, behind a door that cannot be unlocked without a key. The bathroom's in that corner over there, and the television should still work. I promise I'll let you out later when the show is over, Dr. Alphys. But for now, if you'll excuse me, my son and I have to deal with a custody battle…"

Before Alphys could respond, Mettaton and Frisk fell through another trapdoor and landed back in the dressing room leaving Alphys alone.

Frisk tried looking back at her once Mettaton finally put him down to enter the bathroom, but the trapdoor had already shut.

"It's about time to go, darling," Mettaton said pulling Frisk's sweater back on over his head as if nothing had happened. "Jazz yourself up. This obstacle course should be exciting…"

"How could you betray her like that?" Frisk angrily asked. "She's your friend. She helped you. You can't just leave her like that.

Mettaton's expression grew stern as he quickly crouched down to Frisk's eye level, cupped his hands around his face, looked into his anxious eyes, and said, "That is not up for discussion, darling. Now, I need you to focus on the task at hand. Hold still and let me fix your hair really fast."

Mettaton pulled a comb out of nowhere and started brushing Frisk's messy hair furiously.

Frisk stood indignantly for a moment before replying, "You know this won't stop her, right? I know about her. She's smart. She'll figure something out."

Mettaton shrugged and said, "I don't doubt it, dear, but it will slow her down, especially considering she's never been to my old home before. The show will be over by the time she gets back."

"That's cold," Frisk retorted.

"That's show biz, darling," Mettaton said with a sly smirk as he combed out the last tangle. "There, much better. Your makeup doesn't look the best, but I should have thought about fixing that earlier. You're ready to go. Wait…"

Mettaton stood up and walked into the bathroom.

Frisk didn't waste any time. He bolted out the door and ran down the hall until he reached a spare dressing room at the end. Once Frisk found it and looked around to make sure Mettaton wasn't following him, he locked the door behind him and ran into the bathroom.

Mettaton walked out of the bathroom with the water bottle in his hand after a full five minutes of admiring his body in the mirror.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Frisk," Mettaton said posing dramatically shortly before noticing his child was gone…again. "I was just…"

After a moment of frustrated silence, Mettaton took his phone from its charger and realized that they had only four minutes until showtime.

"Idiot," Mettaton quietly said to himself while dialing a number. "Of course, he was going to run away. You didn't even bother to lock the dressing room door."

The number rang, and Burgerpants picked up at the other end.

"Hello?" Burgerpants asked.

"Hello, Burgie," Mettaton said flamboyantly. "I'd like to order a missing child! Get back here and help me find him please! Where are you?"

"We're still on the beach where you left us," Burgerpants replied. "We've just been talking and…"

"Perfect," Mettaton interrupted before creating a trapdoor with his feet, popping out right next to them, and landing in a dramatic pose. "Come along, Burgie. We've gotta find my rebellious son. Would you like to come with us, River?"

Burgerpants was dumbfounded for a moment before he looked back at River pleadingly.

The latter replied, "Yes, I would love to help my friend."

"Wonderful," Mettaton said whilst creating a portal large enough for all of them to fall through and land in the studio hallways.

Burgerpants used his telekinesis to break his and his friend's fall.

Once he lowered them to the ground, Mettaton said, "Split up and search this floor. I'll look outside. Whoever finds him first gets a bonus. Now, hop to it, gentlebeauties!"

Mettaton disappeared through a trapdoor that landed him outside where he began to search around the outside of the building while unbeknownst to him River and Burgerpants started searching the halls together.

Meanwhile, back at his pathetic house, Napstablook was staring at the page of prose that Frisk had sent him.

He read, "I look at myself and see the mirror.

I don't like what I see, but I won't give up.

I can't, but I really want to.

It would be easy.

Breaking a mirror is easy.

Using the glass shards is even easier.

I think the world would be better off.

I think I only cause problems.

I think I'm not useful to anybody.

But I know that's not true.

He says I'm not, and He does not lie.

So, I make myself keep going.

And one day, I know I'll see what He sees when I look at my reflection."

Tears fell out of Napstablook's eyes. His eyes could not leave the words. His mind could not leave them either…

But suddenly, Napstablook heard a noise coming from the empty house next to his. That forced his attention to go away from the phone. Despite his usually timid nature, something made him decide to investigate.


	65. Chapter 65

In the bathroom of the empty dressing room, Frisk was hiding in the cupboard under the sink. He had attempted to make a rope out of the bathtub curtain to use to climb out the window, but to his dismay, he had realized it was too short. So, he tied one end of the curtain around the faucet in the tub and hung the rest outside the open window to mislead whoever found him.

Frisk was shaking as he texted the latest developments to Sans. He was frightened and wished more than anything that Sans knew where the studio was, so he could simply shortcut there and take him away.

Frisk sent the message and waited. Thankfully, Sans was quick to reply.

He said, "You're doing well, squirt. The show was supposed to start about five minutes ago, and it hasn't. You're not half bad at stalling. Keep it up and he might have to call the whole thing off."

Frisk smiled until Sans sent another reply.

"I also saw the prose you sent," Sans said. "It was quite insightful."

"Is that bad?" Frisk replied.

"Nah, but it makes me worry 'bout ya. Be honest. Do ya still wanna die?" Sans texted back.

Frisk's eyes filled up with tears and he replied, "I don't know. I love being your brother, but I hate what I put you through. Your lives would be better off if I wasn't in it causing you problems. Wouldn't it? I mean, He says I have a purpose and that is why I'm still here, but I don't know what it could possibly be. I'm not useful to anybody."

Sans was silent for a minute, but then he said, "Two things. First, you need to know this wasn't your fault, Frisk. That robot tricked you like Flowey did. Second, kid, I haven't been completely honest with ya. You wanna know something? I can't completely explain how, but you've been raising my HP. It was at 1, but now, it's at 8."

"What? How? Why was it so low?"

"Well, you know how I've been depressed for a while? That problem took down my HP until it was practically nothing, but ever since you came along, things have been getting better for me. Pap and I see more eye to eye. I know I can trust him and Undyne with stuff. You've brought us closer together. It's been great, and that's not all. You've been giving me hope too, kiddo. I have felt my hope rising the more I've gotten to know ya. I never imagined that you and I would get on so well. We have a lot in common. We understand each other, and well, there's no other way to put it. You make me happy, squirt. You give me another reason to live. Hell, you've even given me a reason to have faith again. Like I said last night, I love ya, kiddo, and I'm sorry for ever making ya feel unwanted and useless."

Frisk's eyes filled with happy tears, and he replied, "I'm sorry for what I did to make you feel hopeless, too. I love you, too."

Frisk and Sans' HP's went up by one point at the same time.

"Hey!" Frisk texted. "My HP just went up. It's 15 now!"

"And mine's at 9, kiddo," Sans said. "Good work."

"But, what do I do now? What am I supposed to do? I can't climb out the back window, but I don't think going back in the hallway's a good idea either."

"Watch Mettaton's show on the live stream like I am. Help me keep Papyrus and Undyne updated and stay hidden. When that bucket of bolts finally decides to give up on the show, make your move. Pray and run like the prophet who outran the chariot!"

Frisk smiled and replied, "I remember that story. But I thought you and the Almighty weren't on good terms."

"What can I say? You've inspired me to look into that, too. If you keep this up, I might be looking for a place of worship before too long, blood brother, ?" Sans texted back.

Frisk was a bit confused by his last remark, so he said, "Sans, I'm not biologically your…" before he finally understood the pun.

Frisk chuckled a little to himself and replied, "I see what you did there."

Sans' only reply was a winking emoji.

Unfortunately, at that moment, Frisk heard someone trying to open the dressing room door. He quickly told Sans who in turn told him to stay calm and be as quiet as he could until they left, or he could run away.

Frisk heard them talking. It was two people. Then, he heard them inside the room. They had to have teleported. The voices were familiar ones, Burgerpants and River.

"I don't see any sign of him, River," Burgerpants said. "I guess a janitor must have left this room locked by mistake. For his sake, I hope he's not in here."

"I hope so, too," River said. "What do you plan on doing if you found him?"

Frisk's breathing slowed down. The two of them were coming closer to the bathroom where he was hiding.

"I don't know," Burgerpants replied trying the handle on the bathroom door. "I'll figure out something…This one's locked, too. That's weird."

Frisk heard River and Burgerpants teleport into the bathroom. His heart all but stopped.

"What the -?" Burgerpants asked incredulously while examining the curtain going out the window. "What the hell? How did he escape from this floor?! There aren't even any flowers down there to break his fall."

"Burgerpants," River said. "We need to check outside. He might be injured and in need of help."

"Yeah," Burgerpants replied.

Frisk smiled. Now, his diversion had worked. He exited the cupboard, twisted open the bathroom door, and…his heart stopped. River and Burgerpants were waiting in the dressing room on the other side.

"I told you he was in here," River said to Burgerpants while Frisk backed away slowly toward the window.

He managed to sit on the window sill while they were distracted.

Burgerpants looked up, saw what Frisk was doing, and yelled, "KID, WAIT!"

Frisk didn't wait to hear what he had to say. In a panic, he started climbing down the magenta curtain. He didn't even notice that it was straining under his weight.

Burgerpants ran to the window and looked down at him with desperate tears in his eyes. That caught Frisk off-guard and made him slow down long enough to listen.

"Frisk, please…" Burgerpants began. "We don't want to turn you in to Mettaton. We wanna help get you home."

"What?" Frisk asked skeptically. "Are you telling me the truth? I've been lied to enough today. I don't feel like hearing it from anyone else."

"He's telling the truth, child," River said. "You can trust us. I know it feels hard to believe right now, but it's true. I swear it. If you come back up here with us before you get hurt, we will do everything we can to take you home."

Frisk hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to believe them, but he knew well the expression on Burgerpants' face. It was a pleading look. It was a look he once saw in the eyes of the monsters and a look that he had given many times in the face of his enemies. Frisk couldn't see River's face, but he could hear that expression through his voice.

"Okay," Frisk conceded. "I'm going to climb up, but if you try anything funny, I'll run away again."

"No, don't climb up," Burgerpants said as calmly as he could muster. "Let me lower you to the ground. We'll follow you once we've put you on stable ground."

"Alright," Frisk replied nervously.

"Just relax, kid," Burgerpants said moving Frisk telekinetically away from the curtain and wishing he was a better actor than he was. "I won't drop ya. You're nothin' compared to the meat patties I gotta haul around every shift."

River put a hand on Burgerpants' shoulder to calm him down while Frisk was slowly and carefully lowered to the ground.

Unfortunately, just as Frisk was about seven feet from the ground, a trapdoor opened and Mettaton flew out. Before Frisk could even blink, he was being held in Mettaton's arms as he posed dramatically on the sand.

Frisk struggled furiously against Mettaton's hold, but just like before, it did little good.

"BOSS?!" Burgerpants yelled from the window.

"Burgie!" Mettaton exclaimed happily. "Thank you so much for catching my runaway child for me. You're a lifesaver, and you've won your bonus!"

"That's great, boss," Burgerpants said meekly.

"How do you keep finding me?!" Frisk yelled out in frustration.

"I have my ways, dear, but I like to call it fatherly intuition," Mettaton said rubbing Frisk's hair and creating another trapdoor a few steps away. "Anyways, Burgie, I gotta go…"

"Wait, boss..." Burgerpants said nervously. "Uh…Can we stay for the show? River really wanted to stay and watch…"

Frisk stopped struggling and exchanged looks with Burgerpants.

"Why, of course," Mettaton said dissolving one trapdoor and creating another one so he could enter the bathroom. "It's the least I could do for all your help, Burgie."

Once he jumped through the trapdoor and landed dramatically in the bathroom with Frisk in his arms, Mettaton stood up and said, "There are two empty seats where Undyne and Papyrus were sitting anyway. Look alive, gentlemen!"

Mettaton created another trapdoor underneath their feet which immediately caused them to fall into the studio.

Mettaton landed in a dramatic pose on the stage with Frisk still in his arms while Burgerpants used his teleportation to get him and River to their seats so they could come up with another plan.


	66. Chapter 66

"Beauties and gentlebeauties!" Mettaton announced gleefully before the crowd. "I apologize for the delay. My son wandered off by himself and I had to find him. You know how that is."

Frisk rolled his eyes disdainfully while the audience applauded wildly.

"Now, if you're ready, prepare for the custody battle of a lifetime!" Mettaton said sitting Frisk down on the couch.

A stagehand handed Mettaton a microphone and quickly ran off stage while Frisk turned away from Mettaton and the audience and curled up on the couch.

Once the stagehand had left, Mettaton announced, "Remember, my lovely audience. If Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton can reach the obstacle course before the show is over or if his other two would-be legal guardians show up with completed adoption papers during that time, I will concede custody of Frisk to them. But if or when they lose, Frisk will be living with me as my legally adopted son."

The audience cheered louder, and Mettaton basked in the glory while Frisk was texting his family.

Frisk learned that Alphys had escaped her prison with the help of Napstablook. The two were heading back to the studio, but since Napstablook had never been to the studio and the ferry was not running, they were walking on foot and going to take a while.

As such, Frisk was turning his attention to Undyne and Papyrus.

"Is there any way for you to get past the fence?" Frisk asked Undyne and Papyrus' group message.

"Nope," Undyne replied. "It's electrified and VERY difficult to destroy! Papyrus and I have been trying to destroy it for half an hour. Seriously, what the hell is it made of? Human souls?!"

"Undyne!" Papyrus texted.

"Oh, right," Undyne said after a moment. "Sorry."

Frisk smiled in response, but before he could think of a text reply, he felt Mettaton's mechanical hands reach under his armpits and pick him up.

"Frisk, sweetie, the first rule of performing is to never turn your back on your audience," Mettaton said while positioning Frisk so that he was sitting up straight. "If you do that, they can't see your lovely face."

Frisk narrowed his gaze, crossed his arms, and looked away from him and the audience.

Mettaton put the water bottle in Frisk's lap, used his newly freed hand to move Frisk's face so that he was facing his, and said, "Darling, is there anything you'd like to say to our lovely audience before the show starts?"

Frisk shook his head out of Mettaton's hand and flinched when the microphone was shoved into his face.

After an awkward moment of silence, Frisk glared straight at Mettaton and yelled, "Yeah, I have something to say! None of you should applaud Mettaton. He's a maniac who's trying to steal me away from my family…"

Mettaton quickly pulled the microphone away from him, stood up, and said, "Okay, that's enough, dear. Now, why don't you drink your water? I happen to know from a reliable source that humans die if they go too long without water. As for your accusation, you have it all wrong, darling. I've simply taken you out of a less fortunate living situation…"

"You're kidnapping me! Just admit it!" Frisk yelled back.

The audience began talking among themselves in concern. Mettaton looked up at the rating board behind them and noticed that the ratings were beginning to drop a little. It was only by about ten viewers, but it was enough to make him worry. Nonetheless, Mettaton kept his composure.

"Frisk, we talked about this," Mettaton said proudly. "The reason I took you from them is that they are too poor. Look at you. You're malnourished and mentally unwell. I'm the only one wealthy enough to raise you…"

"They're not poor!" Frisk spat back. "You just want me so I can make you more popular!"

The ratings went up by 200 points for the drama. Mettaton smiled. His new son would be better for business than he thought.

"Darling, how could you say such a thing?" Mettaton responded as he sat next to the child on the couch who was doing his best not to look at him. "I know you're upset and it's hard to accept right now, but one day, you will understand that this is what is best for…"

Mettaton was interrupted by the water bottle hitting his face. Frisk turned away and curled up in his former position on the couch while the audience collectively gasped in surprise before they began murmuring about what a badly-behaved human boy he was.

Mettaton glared at Frisk, looked back at the audience, and said, "I do apologize for his behavior, beauties and gentlebeauties. My son is not in the most pleasant mood…"

"You can't let him talk to you like that!" a lady in the audience yelled.

"What?" Mettaton asked while Frisk looked at a text message from Sans that only consisted of a bunch of laughing face emojis.

"Yeah!" another one yelled. "You can't tolerate that kind of behavior from your son!"

"Okay," Mettaton said feeling unexpectedly touched. "What do I do then?"

"You give him a warning," the lady yelled back. "Then if he doesn't behave, you punish him. Also, don't forget to use your authoritative voice."

"Alright, my beauty," Mettaton said with a wink that made the monster woman faint in her seat. "I'll give it a try."

Mettaton picked Frisk up, held him at eye-level, and said firmly, "Darling, you will not throw things at Daddy, or I will take your phone away. Is that understood?"

Without even waiting for Frisk to respond, Mettaton turned his head back to the audience, dropped Frisk back on the couch, and asked, "How was that?"

"Great job," said another lady in the audience.

Mettaton winked at her causing her to swoon as well while Frisk glared back at him and said, "Hey! You can't just toss me around like that."

Mettaton looked back at him, handed him the water bottle off the couch, and said, "That's enough out of you for right now, darling. Now, drink your water before you get sick and Daddy has to call a doctor."

"You're not my…"

"Did I stutter?! Drink."

Frisk reluctantly leaned back on the couch, unscrewed the cap off the water bottle, and took a sip of the water within.

"He's so authoritative," the fire man from before yelled with foam coming out of the corners of his mouth. "He can even get a human to obey him. He's so cool."

The fire man fainted, and the audience applauded and cheered much to Frisk's chagrin.

The rating board rose by 20 more points. The show was now getting 1,060 views. That development was not lost on Mettaton or Frisk who was now looking at the board he had barely noticed before.

"Now, if you're done disobeying," Mettaton said as he rustled Frisk's hair and brought him back to reality. "We can start our show. Let the child custody battle begin!"

The audience applauded loudly, and Frisk noticed that the board's points were going up again.

Frisk turned around when he heard mechanical noises. To his surprise, the monitor had enlarged itself so that it was now the size of the average projector screen. Two more monitor screens came down in front of the left and right side of the audience.

Mettaton sat down on the chair opposite to Frisk as the image of Papyrus and Undyne trying to break through the starting gate came into view on the monitors.


	67. Chapter 67

Meanwhile, the starting gate finally opened to much fanfare so Undyne and Papyrus walked through.

"It's about damn time," Undyne grumbled angrily while walking through the gate.

"Apparently, Frisk stalled Mettaton for a little bit longer," Papyrus said looking at his phone while he was following behind her. "Sans said he threw a water bottle and hit Mettaton in the face…"

"Oh, my God! Really?! That's hilarious!" Undyne said not even trying to conceal her amusement.

"Undyne, I don't think we should be encouraging violence," Papyrus protested. "The psychology book I read said that's bad…"

"Pfft. If it's against Mettaton, I say he can be as violent as he wants. Maybe he'll knock him out long enough to run away. Hell, I don't care what he does as long as he leaves something for me."

"But Undyne, that's not nice. Besides, Frisk doesn't want to watch anyone else die. He can't..."

"Frisk isn't going to. He isn't going to watch any of it if I can help it. The poor kid has dealt with enough already. That's why I'm going to do it for him."

"What?"

"Well, me and Sans are. We've discussed it already. If Mettaton doesn't cooperate once he and this Toriel chick do whatever it is they're planning and get Frisk back for good, we are going to end him together. Sans asked me not to tell ya, but it can't be helped now. Me and my big mouth."

Papyrus couldn't believe what he was hearing.

He put his phone away, ran next to Undyne while she walked forward facing straight ahead, and said, "Undyne, you can't do that. It isn't right. There must be another way. Maybe, we could ask him sternly to leave us alone."

Undyne stopped and glared up at him. Papyrus froze nervously, and his demeanor immediately fell as soon as their eyes met. Despite her smaller stature, Undyne still managed to intimidate him.

"Papyrus," Undyne said in the scary, quiet tone she used on the beach. "You know what a royal guard's duty is? It is to administer justice in this world however you can. I used to think that justice meant kicking ass and fighting humans, but now, I know it means kicking ass and fighting the real bad guys. In almost every timeline, I and everyone else have treated Frisk like shit, just because he's a human. I've done him wrong too many times, just because I couldn't see past what he was. That was screwed up, and if I can help it, I'm not going to let myself or anyone else treat him like that again. Do you understand me?"

Papyrus opened his mouth, and nothing came out. He helplessly tried to search for words, and for once, he couldn't find anything to say.

Undyne looked forward, walked past him, and said, "I don't expect you to help, but God dammit, you better not get in our way."

Suddenly, over some kind of intercom, they both heard Mettaton announce, "IF YOU LOVEBIRDS ARE DONE FIGHTING, LET'S START THE SHOW!"

Mettaton's theme music came on as a flying robotic monitor receiving the broadcast from the studio flew over to them.

Undyne grimaced when she saw Mettaton's face and asked, "What? Are you too scared to face us in person?"

"No, it's just that I have a son who can't be left alone for long periods of time without wandering off, so I decided it would be best if I stayed at the studio with him until later."

"My God, you're even more annoying on camera. You better not hurt Frisk, or I'll make your death twice as painful, ya pretentious ass!"

"My, my, you're in quite the sour mood, Undyne, but it's okay," Mettaton replied with a hair flip. "Fortunately, I, for one, am above such petty name-calling. You don't need to worry. I wouldn't dream of hurting a hair on my little darling's head, but you, on the other hand, should calm down or you might get locked up like you know who."

Undyne materialized her spear, but Papyrus quickly put her hand on her arm and whispered, "Undyne, don't. He's trying to make you mad on purpose."

Undyne glared down Mettaton's smug face and imagined how badly she wanted to impale a spear through it, but reluctantly, she relented. She knew she had to, for Frisk.

"I ain't gonna let you toy with me, pretty boy," Undyne said. "Now, stop wasting our time and move on with the damn competition."

"Well, if you insist, for the first trial, you will be facing a quiz show hosted by me," Mettaton said as a podium with a buzzer and confetti came out of nowhere. "Depending on how you answer, you will either get to continue or you will get zapped until you get it right. What do you think?"

Undyne and Papyrus froze as they remembered the same thing at the same time.

Mettaton's face twisted in confusion as he saw Frisk react about the same way, but like always, he maintained his composure.

"Well, by your stunned silence, I'd say that you're ready to begin," Mettaton said as a giant question and multiple answer board materialized, and the music changed to the quiz show music Frisk had heard many times.

The music was enough to bring Papyrus and Undyne back to reality.

"Alrighty, Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton, are you ready?" Mettaton asked.

After exchanging quick glances at each other, Papyrus said, "Yes! The missus and I are more than ready. Bring it on!"

"Okay!" Mettaton responded gleefully as the first question came up.

"I still can't believe you told everyone we were married," Undyne whispered to him.

"I was trying to disguise our identity," Papyrus whispered back.

"Papyrus, everyone in Snowdin and Waterfall already knows who we are."

"Oh…Well…At least, we're fooling some people in Hotland."

"Enough whispering among yourselves, lovebirds," Mettaton teased. "For the first question, let's start with an easy one. First question, what is the prize for answering correctly? Is it A, Money? B, Mercy? C, Frisk? Or D, More Questions?"

"It's almost exactly like before," Papyrus whispered to Undyne.

"What was that, Mr. Skeleton?" Mettaton asked.

"I said the answer is D for More Questions," Papyrus replied hitting the buzzer.

Mettaton's eyes flashed in surprise. He thought for sure they'd choose the wrong answer. He added C just for that reason.

"Right! Sounds like you two get it!" Mettaton said clapping his hands along with the audience on the other end. "Here's your terrific prize! What's the king's full name? Is it…?"

"It's Asgore Dremurr," Undyne replied hitting the buzzer impatiently. "Duh."

"Correct!" Mettaton replied. "What a terrific answer, Undyne!"

"Don't patronize me, pretty boy!" Undyne yelled back while Papyrus was sending a text message to Frisk.

"My, my, what a temper…" Mettaton teased back.

Frisk received the message back in the studio and checked it. Papyrus was asking if Frisk could remember the answers to any of the upcoming questions since Mettaton seemed to be asking the same questions as in the other runs.

"I'll try," Frisk replied. "I remember that if Mettaton asks you to identify which monster fought me you have to choose him, but I don't remember the rest."

After he sent a message, Frisk shut his eyes, leaned against the couch, and prayed he would be able to summon enough determination to access his memories.

In the meantime, Mettaton moved onto the next question.

"Enough about you, let's talk about me!" he said.

"Joy," Undyne said sarcastically rolling her eyes.

"What are robots made of?" Mettaton asked. "Are they made of A, hopes and dreams? B, metal and magic? C, snips and snails? Or, D, sugar and spice?"

"B, metal and magic," Undyne replied with a hit of the buzzer. "God, you're insulting my intelligence."

"Too easy for you, huh?" Mettaton asked playfully. "Fine then. Here's another easy one for you. Two trains, Train A, and Train B simultaneously depart Station A and Station B. Station A, and Station B are 252.5 miles apart from each other. Train A is moving at 124.7mph towards Station B, and Train B is moving at 253.5mph towards Station A. If both trains departed at 10:00 AM and it is now 10:08, how much longer until both trains pass each other? Is the answer, A, 31.054 minutes? B, 16.232 minutes? C, 32.049 minutes? Or, D, 32.058 minutes?"

Undyne and Papyrus stood there absolutely dumbfounded.

"What? I can't do that type of math in my head!" Undyne protested.

"Neither can I," Papyrus replied while sending a text message to Frisk.

"Not my problem, dears," Mettaton said in his annoyingly flamboyant and passive aggressive tone. "Choose an answer or you can't continue."

Frisk tried as hard as he could to think, but to his terror, he remembered something else.

"Papyrus," Frisk replied through tears. "I never got this question right. I'm so sorry."

"That's okay," Papyrus texted back. "We'll just guess."

"Are you going to answer, or are you going to keep texting my son?" Mettaton asked impatiently.

Papyrus and Frisk froze fearfully. The latter looked at Mettaton who was looking back at him.

Frisk trembled and expected some punishment as the audience murmured in anticipation, but Mettaton only said, "Don't worry, Frisk. I told you earlier I didn't care if you texted your friends. You can relax, darling. You don't have to hide things from Daddy."

The audience gave a collective "Awww!" while the ratings rose, Frisk rolled his eyes, and Mettaton went back to the competition.

"Anyways," he said turning back to the camera. "Do you two have an answer?"

"Yes! Nyeh heh heh!" Papyrus said confidently. "I, the Great Papyrus, say the answer is A, because it's number one, like I and my wife are!"

Undyne rolled her eye while waiting for Mettaton to reply.

"That was a great reply, darling," Mettaton said while Papyrus smiled proudly. "But unfortunately for you, it is WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! And now, you get punished."

Papyrus smiled confidently and said, "Nyeh heh heh! I, the Great Papyrus, can handle anything you throw at…" before he got zapped with a laser from that emerged from the top of the floating monitor.

Papyrus collapsed as his HP fell by half.

"NO!" Frisk yelled as he watched helplessly from his seat.

"PAPYRUS!" Undyne yelled as she ran over to him and held up his head. "PAPYRUS, ARE YOU OKAY?! PAPYRUS, GET UP!"

As Papyrus slowly regained consciousness, Frisk ran over to Mettaton, grabbed his arm, and screamed at him, "METTATON, YOU HAVE TO STOP THIS! YOU'LL KILL THEM! PLEASE!"

Without even flinching at the touch, Mettaton turned to him, pat him on the head, and replied, "Calm down, darling. I don't intend on killing them. It's only for the show. You don't need to worry…"

"WELL, IT'S WRONG!" Frisk screamed while smacking his arm away. "STOP HURTING THEM RIGHT THIS SECOND!"

"I'll stop if it gets to 1 HP," Mettaton said showing a touch more annoyance behind his voice. "And after this stage, I'll give them all they need to heal before the next stage. Alright? Now, get back to your seat or sit down next to me, Frisk."

Frisk narrowed his gaze and yelled, "Like hell, I know better than to trust you!"

At the swear word, the ratings fell by ten points.

Mettaton felt a flash of panic inside, gave Frisk a more serious look, and replied, "Frisk, sit down and shut your mouth, so we can continue the show. If I have to tell you again, you will be put back in timeout. Now, for the next question…FRISK!"

Undaunted by the threat, Frisk had pulled the key on his necklace out of his shirt and knocked over the video monitor.

On the other end, Papyrus and Undyne were frozen in shock.

"RUN, GUYS!" Frisk screamed into the monitor. "GET AS AHEAD AS YOU CAN! GET OUT OF THERE AND FIND ME!"

Frisk then stabbed the screen causing the feed to stop on their end.

Unfortunately, that was all he could do before Mettaton picked him up and said, "Bad boy! You're going back to timeout, young man! I think it's time for you to do something else for a while. Excuse me, my lovely audience! We'll be taking a short intermission while I take my son to see his doctor."

"No!" Frisk yelled squirming as much as he could in Mettaton's arms while the latter carried him off-stage. "I won't let you brainwash me!"

"I'm not taking you to that type of doctor, darling," Mettaton said stopping in place and creating a trapdoor with his feet. "I'm taking you to your pediatrician for your physical examination. Maybe after that boring ordeal, you'll feel like listening to your Daddy."

Mettaton jumped through the trapdoor while back on the obstacle course Undyne was helping Papyrus stand up.

"You heard Frisk, Papyrus," Undyne said as she helped him to his feet. "That bucket of bolts is probably gonna hurt him for this. We've gotta go save him! Can you still run?"

"Of course," Papyrus said confidently before he picked up Undyne and carried her in his arms bridal-style while he bolted away from the malfunctioning quiz show. "Frisk is depending on us! Let's go, sweetie!"

"Papyrus! Put me down! Did Mettaton zap your brain?! We're not married!" Undyne yelled.


	68. Chapter 68

When he and Mettaton emerged from the trapdoor, Frisk stopped squirming long enough to notice that they were in a white clinical hallway with grey plaid tile floors and fluorescent lights next to a door labeled "Dr. Arial Nova."

"Here, we are, darling," Mettaton said setting Frisk on the ground and knocking on the door.

Frisk tried to make a break for it, but Mettaton grabbed onto his wrist and continued knocking on the door.

"Dr. Nova?" Mettaton asked. "It's Mettaton! I've brought my new son by a bit earlier than expected. He's been extremely restless at the studio, so I was wondering if you could give him his physical examination early as a timeout…"

The door was thrown open interrupting Mettaton mid-sentence.

Frisk's eyes grew wide when he saw the doctor. She was a female skeleton, but she didn't look like Sans or Papyrus. She had long black hair and swirly facial tattoos under and over her eyes with a black spot on her nose and red and black rings around her eyes. She was wearing a red and black striped shirt, a black mini-skirt, black pantyhose, black boots, and a long white doctor coat. She was a bright contrast to the dimness of the environment.

But her eyes were unsettling. They had a look of insanity behind them. They were the kind of eyes Frisk knew to avoid on the surface, and now, they looked right at him and pierced his soul. Frisk shook fearfully and found himself trying to hide behind Mettaton.

Mettaton smiled back at him, let go of his hand, pushed him in front of him, rested his hands on his shoulders, and said, "Now, Frisk, darling, don't be shy. Say hello to your new doctor. This is Dr. Arial Nova. Dr. Alphys interned under her once upon a time before she became the royal scientist. She knows more about humans than just about anyone else in the Underground."

"What's up, kid?" Dr. Nova said in an unsettlingly youthful and energetic tone of voice for a woman supposedly older than Alphys before she squatted to Frisk's eye level. "You're the first living human I've encountered in forever. I'm used to seeing only the dead ones. I've been watching you on the show. You're quite violent…"

"Then, you understand why I must leave him here for an hour or two while I get things up and running," Mettaton interrupted.

"Oh, of course," Dr. Nova said rubbing Frisk's hair. "I'd be stupid to turn him away. He's adorable. Besides, there is so much I can learn from him…"

"Now, now, doctor," Mettaton said sternly. "Remember our agreement. You cannot hurt him. He's my son, not a lab specimen. He's here for a physical examination. That's all, but you can use sedatives to calm him down if need be."

"Okay," Dr. Nova said holding Frisk's hands in her own as she cracked a twisted smile. "I got it. I'll behave."

"Good," Mettaton replied pushing Frisk forward into Dr. Nova. "Remember, if you leave even a single scratch on him, I'm taking him to a different doctor. Take good care of him, dear. He was a homeless orphan, so he's not in the best health."

She wrapped her arms tightly around Frisk in a hug and picked him up. Frisk flinched at the close contact and stared pleadingly at Mettaton.

"You worry too much, Mettaton," Dr. Nova said. "I'll give him all the health care you can afford."

"Splendid," Mettaton replied with a smile.

"The question is how you will pay me," Dr. Nova said with a suggestive glance. "Will it be cash or what you gave me the last time I did you a favor?"

Mettaton smiled suggestively back at her and said, "Arial, sweetie, not in front of the child. It will be cash. You remember what I told you last time."

"Awww! Come on, Metta," Dr. Nova said playfully. "You know you enjoyed it."

"I never said I didn't," Mettaton said moving his face until he was inches away from hers. "But I simply don't have time for a relationship in my life right now. Female or male. I have a business empire to run, and now, I have a child to raise."

"You have time to raise a human child, but no time for anything else?" Dr. Nova said moving her face closer to his. "What are your priorities?"

With each line of dialogue, their faces grew closer together.

"The little one is good for business."

"And I'm not?"

"You're too old."

"Ha! You know how slowly skeletons age."

"That is true."

"Your son could also use a mother."

"That is also true. You know. I may actually have to think about this…"

"Dammit, will you two get a room?" Frisk whined.

The two monsters looked at each other and looked back at Frisk disapprovingly.

Mettaton sighed, turned away, and said, "I had better return to my studio and my lovely audience. You get my child taken care of, and I might just give what you said some consideration."

"Okay, I will have to remove the make-up by the way," Dr. Nova said holding Frisk more closely against her side.

Mettaton visibly pouted and said, "Must you? It looks so good on him."

"I must check his skin," Dr. Nova said.

Mettaton posed dramatically and said, "Alright, if you must…."

"Please don't leave me!" Frisk pleaded.

Mettaton looked back at his son's eyes as he gave him the most frightened, pathetic look he could muster.

"Darling," Mettaton said firmly. "If you didn't want to be left alone at the doctor's, you should have behaved instead of destroying my expensive equipment. You brought this on yourself, dear, but don't worry. Daddy will come back as soon as you're done. Now, be a good boy and behave for Dr. Nova. I'm going back to the studio to check on your friends."

"You better not hurt them!" Frisk yelled at him as he created a trapdoor with his feet.

"I told you before that I don't intend on killing them, darling," Mettaton said. "Why ruin their entertainment value?"

Mettaton jumped in the trapdoor that dissolved behind him.

Frisk looked back at Dr. Nova trying his best to hide the fear behind his eyes.

"Come along, little one," Dr. Nova said as she stepped out of her office and started walking down the hall with Frisk still in her arms. "We have to give you a check-up."

Frisk kept shaking, but he heard Him say, "You are not alone, Frisk. I'm right here."

"This woman is crazy," Frisk prayed in his head. "She's gonna dissect me."

"You will be okay," He replied warmly. "Stay determined."

Frisk smiled in response.

The voice calmed him down a little, so Frisk took in his surroundings as Dr. Nova continued walking down the hall. He turned around and saw from his view out the window that they were still in Hotland. Frisk looked around the hallways and noticed that despite all the offices and labs they walked past the hallways were oddly empty."

"Why are there no people here?" Frisk asked nervously.

"Oh, this is a university and it's a school holiday, so most people are on break right now," Dr. Nova said as she finally walked through a door. "I was going to be on vacation until your hot Daddy called me yesterday and asked me to help him out, so I opted to stay here instead."

"Oh," Frisk said.

"You're a quiet one. Aren't you?" Dr. Nova asked before her face twisted into her demented smile. "That should make this much easier."

Dr. Nova suddenly turned left carried Frisk through a clinically white laboratory with metal counters covered in various medical instruments. She finally put him down on the metal table in the center.

Dr. Nova materialized a clipboard and a pen, pulled up a rolling chair, draped her legs over the arm of said chair, and said, "Alright, Frisk. Now for the boring stuff, I'm gonna ask you a bunch of questions and you answer them as well as you know how to. Okay?"

"I guess," Frisk said reluctantly.

"Alright, do you take any drugs?" Dr. Nova asked. "I mean the medication kind, not the bad stuff. Although, you should probably mention those, too."

"No," Frisk lied.

"That's surprising considering you were homeless," Dr. Nova replied.

Frisk glared back at her and looked away. She found his silence a bit unnerving.

"Do you smoke, drink, or have unprotected sex?" Dr. Nova asked.

"No," Frisk said with more annoyance in his voice.

"Do you even know what unprotected sex is?" Dr. Nova asked playfully.

"No," Frisk retorted.

"Interesting," Dr. Nova said as she made some notes on her clipboard. "What is your diet?"

"Whatever anyone feeds me or whatever I can find."

"Explains why you're so skinny. You're almost as skeletal as I am. Do you exercise?"

"When I'm with my family…"

"You haven't known Mettaton that long…" Dr. Nova said writing down some more notes.

"He is not my family," Frisk interrupted angrily. "He stole me from my family…"

"Oh, you mean that fish lady and Gaster's kids," Dr. Nova said without even looking back at him. "Duh. I should have assumed former family…"

For some reason, Frisk ignored her comment and asked, "Wait, who's Gaster?"

Dr. Nova looked back at him in disbelief and said, "Who's Gaster? Are you serious? He was only the royal scientist who invented the Core that gives us all green energy. I used to work with him. He was…interesting. I'm surprised you don't know more about him. You lived with his kids. One of his sons used to work in the lab with him. He was a brilliant kid but stubborn. They fought about ethics from time to time. It was so annoying. But anyway, there I go getting distracted again. I probably said more than I should have. Oh, well…Anyways, are you updated on your shots?"

"Uh," Frisk said not knowing what to do with all the new information. "I don't know."

"Yay!" Dr. Nova squealed while she spun her chair around. "You know what this means? That means I get to take a blood sample! I've never taken blood samples from a living human before. This'll be amazing!"

"What?!" Frisk asked in a panic. "Why do you need my blood?!"

Dr. Nova stopped spinning around in her chair and replied, "To see what antibodies your body has. You know how vaccines work, right? Your body receives a weak sample of a disease and develops antibodies against said disease so that the body's immune system can fight it should you ever be exposed to it. If I look at your blood, I can find the antibodies your body has and figure out what antibodies you still need. Make sense?"

"Yeah," Frisk said.

"Then, I'm a better teacher than I thought," Dr. Nova replied. "Anyways, I probably needed to get a sample anyway to check for other diseases and things like that, but now, I definitely can get one and study it forever."

Frisk cringed uncomfortably at the last bit while she continued, "Moving right along, were there any diseases in your biological family that you know about?"

"No," Frisk lied.

"Alright then," Dr. Nova said jumping out of her chair. "Now, for the fun part, for me anyway. I get to check the rest of ya. Just let me find the right equipment…"

As soon as Dr. Nova turned away to find her tools, Frisk pulled out his phone.

Sans had sent him a message saying, "Frisk, I know what happened. Where has Mettaton taken you?"

Frisk quickly replied, "I'm not sure. He used a trapdoor, but I'm still in Hotland at some kind of medical school. He left me with a skeleton woman named Dr. Nova. She said she knew your Dad."

On the other end, Sans paused in horror before he sent another text message that said, "Frisk, is her full name Dr. Arial Nova and does she have black and red tattoos on her face?"

"Yes," Frisk replied. "Do you know her?"

Sans felt the bile rise in his metaphorical throat as he remembered his father's former colleague.

Then, he took a deep breath and said, "Yes. Frisk, listen to me. Dr. Nova is crazy. I mean certifiably insane. You have to be careful around her and get away from her as soon as she can. You understand me?"

Frisk replied nervously, "I'll try. Mettaton made her promise not to hurt me, but I don't think she'll do what he says. They were flirting, like a lot. It was really creepy."

"What exactly did they say?" Sans replied.

Before Frisk could reply, Dr. Nova snatched the phone out of his hands and replied for him. After about a minute, she handed the phone back to him. Dr. Nova had basically summed up what happened but with her more suggestive terms.

Back at Toriel's place, Sans gagged at the reply.

"What's the matter?" Toriel asked.

"Dr. Nova replied for Frisk."

"What did she say?"

"You don't wanna know."

Thankfully, most of the message went over Frisk's head.

When he looked back at her, she shined a small light into his eyes and, "Keep your eyes open…Good."

Then Dr. Nova added a piece to the medical instrument and shined the light into Frisk's ears.

"Good," she replied while putting the device in her pocket and pulling out a popsicle stick. "Now, say, 'Ah!'"

"Ah?" Frisk said opening his mouth before she placed the popsicle stick on his tongue and used her device to check his mouth.

When Frisk gagged, Dr. Nova pulled the popsicle stick out of his mouth and asked, "What's the problem?"

"The stick tastes like alcohol," Frisk complained. "It tastes gross."

"Whoops," Dr. Nova said with a slight look of embarrassment in her face while she looked at the popsicle stick for a moment and then flicked it away without a second thought. "That must be the popsicle stick I used to stir my tequila mix last night. Sorry! Anyhow, let's check your weight."

Without saying another word, Dr. Nova pulled a scale off the counter and placed it on the floor by her feet.

"Take your shoes off and hop on," Dr. Nova ordered.

Frisk nervously removed his shoes and hopped onto the scale. The numbers came up and said he weighed 60 lbs.

"Damn, human, you're really underweight," Dr. Nova said while writing on her clipboard. "Did those skeletons feed you?"

"Yes, extremely well," Frisk said defensively. "I ate breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert yesterday."

"You say that like it's a huge accomplishment," Dr. Nova noted before she set her clipboard down on the chair behind her. "Let me take a look at that torso of yours."

"NO!" Frisk yelled while wrapping his arms around himself and quickly pulling on his shoes. "You don't need to see that!"

"Frisk, sweetie, you don't need to be shy around me," Dr. Nova said. "I ain't gonna hurt ya. I just want to see how prominent your ribs are. That's all."

After pulling on the last shoe, Frisk backed away from her towards the door and said, "Tough toenails. That's none of your business. You're not my doctor or my mother!"

"Frisk, stay calm," he heard the Holy One say. "Panicking won't help you."

"No," Frisk responded to Him. "I have to get out of here. She can't see my scars. She'll get even creepier."

Dr. Nova growled in annoyance and raised her right hand. Immediately, Frisk was glowing blue, he couldn't move, and he was lifted to her eye-level. She pulled him in closer until their faces were almost touching. Frisk was trembling uncontrollably.

"Please don't…" Frisk pleaded.

"You're so stubborn," Dr. Nova said while lifting the sweater and the tank top under it. "What's your problem anyway? You're just like your brother…Woah!"

Frisk looked at her in dread while she pulled the sweater and tank top over his head and threw them on the table without letting Frisk go. His heart dropped as her demented smile grew wider at seeing all the scars.

"It looks like your Daddy wasn't kidding when you said you were depressed and you needed some serious psychological help," Dr. Nova said while walking around him and admiring all the scars. "That's some impressive work. They look recent, too. It's amazing you're not dead. You must be quite determined. Now, why on earth would you hide these from me? Hmmm…What else are you hiding?"

"Nothing," Frisk lied in a panic. "I swear."

"Sure," Dr. Nova replied sarcastically as she turned around and rummaged through the equipment on the counters until she found what she was looking for.

"The only way I'm going to get better is by being with my family," Frisk pleaded with tears forming at the corner of his eyes. "I don't want to stay with Mettaton or stay here. My brothers are the ones who've been making me feel better. You have to let me go!"

Dr. Nova turned around with a syringe filled with an unknown clear substance.

"NO, DON'T!" Frisk yelled while trying fruitlessly to squirm out of her telekinetic hold as she walked briskly back over to Frisk. "DON'T DISSECT ME! PLEASE! YOU PROMISED!"

She smiled her twisted smile while she placed one hand on Frisk's shoulder and used the other one to inject the syringe into his neck.

Instantly, Frisk felt his limbs grow limp and his eyes grow heavy.

"Please," Frisk muttered weakly. "Don't do this."

"Shhhhh…" Dr. Nova said quietly using her free hand to cup Frisk's face as his eyes finally slid shut. "Mommy's only gonna finish your physical. Now, rest your eyes. Only dreams now…"


	69. Chapter 69

Frisk woke up and saw the leathery texture of a couch. His head was on a pillow. He sat up and realized his top was still uncovered, his shoes and socks were off, his pants were off, and his key and cell phone were gone. Frisk was in his boxer shorts covered by a thin woolen blanket.

Frisk breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that besides a bandage on his left arm from where a blood sample had been taken he was fine. The same scars were there before. Frisk had not been dissected.

He smiled in relief before he heard a noise coming from further in the office. It sounded like two people talking, but Frisk's still dulled senses got in the way of figuring out what the voices were saying.

He looked around the office to find the source of the sound. Frisk noticed that his clothes were on the ground and that the couch was against a dark wood-paneled wall with a clock above it. As his weary eyes wandered the room, he noticed that most of the walls were covered with filing cabinets and heavy metal posters of skeleton bands.

Frisk's eyes then rested on the desk with a computer, bottles of alcohol, and paperwork where he saw his key and his cell phone plugged into a charger connected to an extension cord which ran under the desk.

Without much thought, Frisk stood up. His head was still light, and his steps were uncertain as he staggered over to the desk to grab his things. Once Frisk was there, he put his necklace on and took his now fully-charged phone out of its charger.

That was when he saw the bathroom door and heard their voices. They were the voices of Mettaton and Dr. Nova, and they sounded like they were kissing.

"I'd say your performance has improved, Mettaton," Dr. Nova said in between kisses.

"I told you this suit has benefits, Arial," Mettaton replied. "But I'm still upset with you, darling."

"You authorized me to do it, dear."

"I said you could use sedatives to calm him, not to knock him out to make the physical examination easier. That was quite irresponsible of you. I've decided to change doctors."

"But he was lying to me. I had to knock him out to find out the truth, love."

"I know. He's depressed, he's anemic, he's underweight, and he's taking medicine. Those were definitely things that you couldn't have found out if he was awake."

"Okay, maybe I overreacted a little. I know how to make it up to you…"

Frisk heard them kissing again. He grimaced while turning to walk back to the couch.

Frisk took his first step and felt his bare foot step on some paper. He looked down and saw his name written at the top, so he picked it up and looked at it. It was his medical information.

Frisk's tired mind didn't have the capacity to read and understand it, but he still figured it had to be important. So, despite his grogginess, Frisk used his phone to take pictures. He photographed every page and kept his camera as still as possible, so they wouldn't be blurry. When Frisk was done, he sent the result to Sans and waddled back to the couch.

Frisk pulled on his clothes while waiting for Sans to respond and for his blurry vision to clear up. When he was done, he sat down and saw that Sans had sent a text message.

"Oh, my God," Sans responded. "I haven't heard from you in an hour. I've been worried sick! Are you okay? What the hell did she do to you?!"

Frisk typed back slowly, "I don't think Dr. Nova did anything. She gave me a shot and I fell asleep because she got mad when I tried to hide my scars from her. I woke up on a couch. I think I'm in her office now. She and Mettaton are making out in her bathroom. It's so gross. My head feels really fuzzy inside, too."

When Frisk sent his message, Sans read over it and felt his eye sockets glow again.

"Hold it together," Toriel said looking over his shoulder. "For Frisk."

Sans took a deep breath and responded, "So, that means nobody's watching you right now?"

"Yeah," Frisk replied.

"Kid, that means you can escape right now."

"You're right. I'll do that now."

Frisk hopped off the couch and walked slowly to the door trying to be quiet despite his weary state. He stood in front of it and quietly tried to twist the knob, but to his horror, it wouldn't budge. It was locked.

That was when Frisk felt a hand on his shoulder and a shudder go through his spine.

"Darling," Mettaton said. "If you were that eager to leave, you should have said something."

"Hell, I'm surprised that he can even stand already," Dr. Nova said sitting on the corner of her desk.

Frisk looked back at him wearily and felt tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

"Oh, dear," Mettaton said picking Frisk up and holding him in a hug. "There, there. I know this punishment has been rough, but Daddy knows you're sorry and he forgives you. So, there's nothing to be upset about."

Frisk was still too tired to respond, so all he could do was reluctantly rest his head on Mettaton's chest plate.

"Awww, you're starting to warm up to me," Mettaton said. "That is so sweet…"

"Can we just leave already?" Frisk finally mumbled out.

"Are you gonna let him talk to you like that?" Dr. Nova asked.

Mettaton sighed and said, "Don't you worry, Arial. I'll win him over one way or another. It'll just take time. Thanks again for your help, even though your methods were…questionable. Your check's in the mail."

"You're giving me money on top of what you just gave me?" Dr. Nova said before she shortcut to her desk chair and pulled an electronic cigarette out of a drawer. "You're too kind."

Mettaton gave her a wink, created another trapdoor, and said, "Until next time, Dr. Arial Nova."

"I'm on standby if ya need me," Dr. Nova said before Mettaton jumped into the trapdoor with Frisk in tow.

Dr. Nova waited for her cigarette to warm up while she turned on her computer and pulled up the live stream of Mettaton's show. On the screen, she watched as Papyrus sat next to Undyne and healed himself while they were closely guarded by Mettaton's robotic drones.

Dr. Nova smiled sadly and said, "I'm glad you're so happy and strong, Papyrus. Please keep it up. Mettaton's going to put up a hell of a fight. You know, it's funny. Taking care of the human child almost makes me wish I didn't give you up to your Daddy so quickly."

A tear went down Nova's cheek, but she wiped it away, took a puff over her cigarette, and said, "Oh, well…"


	70. Chapter 70

Once Mettaton jumped out of his trapdoor with Frisk in his arms, he moved so fast that Frisk's tired mind could barely keep up.

Frisk's weary head laid against Mettaton's chest plate as the robot quickly paced through the backstage and gave orders to his subordinates as he passed by. The constant motion was too disorienting to pay attention to. Frisk felt helpless, and his helplessness infuriated him. So, Frisk closed his eyes and tried to listen without falling asleep to curb the disorientation.

While talking to his boss, Inferno noticed the sleeping human.

"Mettaton, is the human okay?" Inferno asked. "He looks exhausted."

Mettaton noticed Frisk dozing against his chest plate and said, "You're right. I guess the sedative his doctor gave him hasn't completely worn off yet."

"Sir, why did your doctor give him a sedative if he was only going to get a physical?" Inferno asked.

"It's a really long story," Mettaton said peeking through the curtain. "But there's no time to tell it. My audience needs me. Inferno, have someone make Frisk a cup of coffee…"

"Mettaton, that's a really bad idea," Inferno interrupted.

"Why?"

"Coffee has a bad effect on children. It makes them extremely hyper. Trust me. I'm a father of three. I know this from experience. You should take him home and put him to bed."

"What? Inferno, I can't cancel a custody battle after all the trouble I went through to get the thing set up and I sure cannot leave him by himself. He's too clever and resourceful. He'll run away again. I have to watch him. FRISK!"

Without thinking, Frisk opened his eyes and looked around for a moment.

"There, Frisk is awake now," Mettaton said with a sly smile while propping Frisk on his hip again. "No worries. Just get him coffee that is low to medium strength. Frisk's mature for his age. He'll be fine."

"Whatever you say, Mettaton," Inferno said reluctantly as he left to order someone to make Frisk a cup of coffee.

Without another word, Mettaton carried Frisk back on-stage to the enthusiastic cheers of the audience. Frisk lifted his head and looked back at them wearily.

"My son has returned from his doctor's appointment," Mettaton said placing Frisk back in his spot on the couch and handing him his water bottle from earlier. "Frisk is quite tired from the ordeal, so you'll have to forgive him for not being very enthusiastic right now. The doctor has confirmed that he is underweight and anemic, but as long as he keeps getting fed, Frisk should be okay."

The audience applauded happily. Frisk ignored them, curled up on the couch with his back to the audience, and struggled to stay awake as he stared at the monitor feed of Papyrus and Undyne.

Frisk prayed and ignored Mettaton while he tried to figure out what to do next. His last stunt had bought his friends some time, but they got caught and Frisk was too drugged to do anything for them now. He prayed for an idea, anything that could possibly help.

A bony finger tapped on his shoulder. Frisk looked up and saw a skeleton wearing a headset. Without a word, he handed him a hot beverage in a to-go cup and walked away.

Frisk eyed the cup curiously as Mettaton said to the departing skeleton, "Thanks for the coffee, Calibri!"

The latter gave him a thumbs up and disappeared backstage.

Mettaton looked at Frisk and said, "Enjoy the coffee, darling. It should pep you up in no time."

Frisk tried taking a sip, but the beverage burned his tongue. He took a sip from the water bottle to cool it down.

"It's hot, dear. Be careful," Mettaton said before turning back to his audience. "Now, if there are no more interruptions, let's get back to the show and our lovely contestants…"

Back on the obstacle course, the guards surrounding Papyrus and Undyne suddenly disappeared as Mettaton announced, "On to the next challenge, my lovely contestants! The show is back on!"

"What have you done with Frisk?!" Undyne yelled while jumping to her feet.

"Yeah," Papyrus said doing the same thing. "You better not have hurt him, or we will be very upset!"

Mettaton's monitor flew up to them and said, "Don't worry. He's fine. All I did was take him to see a doctor. Honest. See for yourselves."

The camera turned to Frisk curled up on the couch sipping the coffee and grimacing at its bitter taste. He looked at the camera and tiredly gave his friends a thumbs up.

Undyne silently burned in anger while Papyrus worried. They knew what had happened from Sans but seeing Frisk's weary body recovering from sedation and trying to push through was something else.

The camera cut back to Mettaton who asked, "There, are you satisfied?"

"OF COURSE NOT!" Undyne screamed before returning to her eerily calm tone. "But for now, I can keep myself content with the image of your pathetic face when you lose."

After a moment of awkward silence, Mettaton said, "Okay, then…On to the next challenge!"

The monitor flew away and a path lit up leading them to their next challenge.

"Alright, stay on your toes, Papyrus," Undyne said walking ahead. "We don't know what that glorified calculator is going to do."

"Uh, yes, we do," Papyrus said following behind her. "We know from Frisk's memories what he's going to do next. If the first challenge was a quiz show, then the next challenge should be the cooking show. We'll have to use a jetpack to get the human soul substitute."

"Papyrus," Undyne began cautiously. "Maybe the last challenge was exactly what King Jackass put Frisk through last time, but we can't be sure that he's going to do the same thing in the…"

"NOW FOR THE NEXT CHALLENGE!" Mettaton announced through his flying monitor as they approached a tall tower of desks. "You must reach the top of these desks to get the filled out and unsigned adoption papers on top. To reach it, you will have to…HEY!"

Before Mettaton could finish explaining the challenge, Undyne had materialized a spear that flew to the top of the tower of desks, pierced through the adoption papers, and carried them down to where she and Papyrus were standing.

The spear dissolved allowing Undyne to clutch the adoption papers in her hand as Papyrus stood there in stunned amazement.

Back on-stage, Frisk chuckled quietly to himself awaking Mettaton and the audience from their dumbfounded stupor.

"My lovely contestants," Mettaton replied on the monitor not trying to conceal his disapproval. "You cheated…"

"No, they didn't!" Frisk yelled off-screen. "All you said was they had to get the papers off the top of the desk! You never said they had to climb the desks to get them! Did you?"

Mettaton glanced over at Frisk who fidgeted with his empty coffee cup and smirked back at him.

After giving him another disapproving glance that he promptly ignored, Mettaton turned back to the monitor, leaned back dramatically in his chair, and said, "So, it appears my son is right…"

"I'm not your son," Frisk said off-screen.

Mettaton ignored the comment and continued, "I guess I'll have to give you that one. Now, if you would like a pen to sign the papers, you will have to continue to the next challenges."

The monitor flew away as another path lit up.

"Gotta go," Frisk said climbing off the couch and dashing off-stage.

"Wait! Where are you going?!" Mettaton yelled after him.

"I'm going to the bathroom!" Frisk replied.

"Inferno, please go with him," Mettaton ordered as Frisk disappeared and he silently wondered what had gotten into his child.

Meanwhile, back on the obstacle course, Undyne and Papyrus were walking ahead and beaming in their victory.

"Undyne," Papyrus squealed in excitement. "That was so badass!"

"Thanks," Undyne replied. "It looks like you were right all along. You don't happen to remember the next challenge. Do ya?"


	71. Chapter 71

Outside the bathroom, Inferno was waiting for Frisk because the latter did not want him to see him use a public urinal.

Inside the bathroom, Frisk had climbed to the top of the bathroom stalls and was sitting on the corner swinging his legs, texting, and waiting for a text message reply from Sans. His bladder was now emptied, but he was dealing with the other side effect of the coffee.

"You're alright, kid," Sans finally replied. "The coffee has given you a sugar rush. You're gonna be hyper for a while."

"No shit," Frisk replied while he hung backward into the toilet stall and typed upside down. "What am I supposed to do, Sans? I hate sitting out there. I want to help Papyrus and Undyne, but there's nothing I can do. The last time I tried Almighty King Jackass dumped me with a mad scientist. If I do anything else, he'll leave me with one of his jerk ass psychiatrists. It was easier when he just wanted to kill me. I wish he didn't want me at all."

Suddenly, Frisk heard knocking at the bathroom door.

"Frisk, are you alright?" Inferno said on the other side. "Uh, do you need help?"

"No, I'm ten!" Frisk yelled back. "I can use the bathroom by myself! Just give me a minute! Would ya?!"

"Right," Inferno said nervously. "Sorry…"

Frisk looked back at his phone and noticed that Sans was replying, so he texted, "Don't worry, Sans. I'm doing what I mentioned before now. We might not even need another plan. Well, we won't if the windows here work like they did on the surface. Thank God I was a street kid."

Frisk sat back up, stuffed his phone in his pocket, stood up on the walls of the stall, and started walking carefully along the tops of the bathroom stalls until he reached a skylight window in the middle of the bathroom. Once he reached it, he waved his hands pulling his nervous sweat from his brow and immersing it into the mechanisms of the window lock with his determination until the lock finally unlocked.

Frisk smiled until he pushed open the window with a loud creak. He froze in place fearfully for a second, but when Inferno said nothing, he pushed open the window, jumped, grabbed onto the side of the window, and pulled himself up as quickly as his arms could muster.

Once Frisk was on the roof, he sat up, silently thanked God for how much his determination had recovered, and replied to Sans and everyone else on the large group chat, "I did it! I'm on the roof!"

Sans quickly replied, "Well done, ya street urchin."

As soon as Frisk read that reply, Sans sent another text message, "But I think you have something going with the making yourself undesirable thing. Don't let yourself get caught, but if you do, we need to find a way to make Mettaton not want you as much as possible."

"But Sans, I've tried to fight him as much as I could, but he isn't giving up," Frisk texted. "What else can I do?"

"You've gotta find a weakness," Sans replied. "Is there anything he doesn't like?"

"Well, he doesn't like the sweater I'm wearing. He said it was too gothic."

"That could be something. Think about that, but for now, you should be trying to escape."

"Right, I just gotta cover my tracks."

Frisk tried pushing the window shut, but it wouldn't budge. He tried pushing it shut again, but it still wouldn't move.

In the room below, Frisk heard Inferno say, "Frisk, you've been in there for a long time. If you don't come out soon, I'm going to have to come in there!"

Frisk pushed harder and harder on the window, but the mechanism would not budge. In a panic, Frisk kicked the window as hard as he could, and it shattered. Glass flew everywhere including in the bathroom below. The noise brought back the memory of the other day and caused Frisk to freeze in shock for a moment.

"FRISK!" Inferno yelled as he pushed past the door and ran into the bathroom. "FRISK?! Is everything alright?! Where did you go, buddy?! What broke?!"

The yelling brought Frisk back to reality. He quickly pulled his foot out of the broken window and quietly backed away. He looked around on the roof and found a door leading to some stairs.

"Frisk?! Where are you hiding, son?!" Inferno asked as he quickly found the broken glass and the broken skylight window.

Frisk tried the door on the roof, but of course, it was locked. Frisk mouthed an expletive and looked for another place to hide. He quickly noticed a ventilation duct opening.

Inferno shot fire out of his hands to propel him to the roof. He looked around, but Frisk was nowhere to be seen.

"Frisk?" Inferno asked. "Where have you gone, buddy? You aren't in trouble. I just want to make sure you're okay."

That was when Inferno heard a loud thump from what sounded like the inside of the ventilation.

Frisk had fallen about 10 feet while trying to climb down through the inside of the ventilation shaft and lost 1 HP. He groaned in pain while rubbing his sore side.

"Frisk, you can't play in there," Inferno yelled from the opening to the vent. "Young man, you need to get out of there."

Frisk quickly got on his hands and knees and started crawling.

"Frisk, please come back!" Inferno yelled. "I know you're in there. I promise I won't tell Mettaton if you come back right now."

Frisk ignored Inferno's pleas while he continued crawling away in search of an empty room.

With no other option, Inferno jumped in behind him and used his fires to hover until he could reach the bottom of the shaft safely. Once he reached that bottom, Inferno saw a few blood drops from where Frisk had been. That sent the fire monster's fatherly instincts into a panic.

He looked ahead and only saw blackness, but as there was only one way to go, Inferno used his flames to propel him through the vent.

Meanwhile, Frisk's hyperactive energy allowed him to make progress but not enough progress. He stopped to catch his breath at a vent grating leading to a room filled with black cases.

"Frisk!" Inferno yelled. "Slow down! You're hurt!"

Frisk turned around and saw Inferno propelling towards him. In a panic, he turned back around and kicked as hard as he could at the grating causing it to quickly come crashing to the ground. Without much thought, Frisk jumped out of the grating and landed on a pile of black cases causing him to lose another HP point.

Inferno stopped at the opening Frisk made and looked down at the child who was rubbing his sore spot and struggling to get to his feet after his second rough fall of the day. Now that there was more light coming through the window, Inferno could see that Frisk had a cut on his cheek most likely from the broken glass on the roof.

"Frisk, you're hurt…" Inferno said as he jumped out and used his flames to make himself hover in the air above the wounded child.

"I'm fine!" Frisk spat back as he turned to run away. "Now, leave me alone!"

"Frisk, your cheek has a cut on it…"

"So, what?"

"We have to get that taken care of…"

"Who's we?"

"Frisk…"

"I'm not listening to you or to Mettaton."

"Frisk, please…"

"You work for the asshole who's trying to separate me from my family. How am I supposed to trust you? You don't really care about…"

"FRISK!" Inferno finally yelled causing Frisk to turn around in surprise. "You are going to sit down right now and let me look at your wound, so I can help you get healed! Is that clear, mister?!"

Frisk, surprised and dumbfounded by his suddenly authoritative fatherly tone, sat down on the ground, and said, "Okay."

"Good," Inferno said as he landed before Frisk. "Now, hold still."

Inferno shot individual flames out of his hands until the room was lit up. Then, he approached Frisk. Frisk sat down and trembled fearfully reliving the memories of past runs with monsters who fought with fire.

"It's okay, son," Inferno said as he crouched down in front of Frisk. "This might hurt for a second, but this will stop the bleeding. Trust me. My Dad was a doctor."

Inferno placed his thumb on Frisk's cheek. Frisk winced at the burning pain until Inferno moved his thumb away, and to his amazement, his cheek had stopped bleeding. The cut was healed.

Frisk and Inferno looked at each other not knowing what to say next for a moment before Frisk stood up and said, "Thanks for the help, but I've gotta go now."

"You know I cannot let you leave, human," Inferno said.

"You really going to be like that?" Frisk asked. "And I was just starting to think you were cool. You're worse than Mettaton…"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Inferno asked gently.

Frisk turned around, growled in frustration, and yelled while walking towards him, "God, do I really have to spell it out for you?! You're a sheep! You're a coward! You're worse than a bully! You're an apathetic asshole who allows other people to do shitty things because you're too weak-willed to do anything about it!"

Frisk's face was almost touching Inferno's. The former could see a faint trace of fear in the eyes of the latter. It gave Frisk a sick form of satisfaction.

"Stop it, Frisk," He said in his mind. "You don't need to survive by intimidation anymore. I know you're angry, but in your anger, you cannot sin…"

Tears formed at the corners of Frisk's eyes, and he quickly turned away in fear of his disturbing emotions and troubled memories. The change in expression was not lost on Inferno.

"Frisk, are you okay?" Inferno asked.

"No," Frisk replied with his voice breaking. "There's a sociopathic ghost-robot who's trying to replace my Dad and hurt my new family and there's nothing I do to help them or make him change his mind. It sucks."

Inferno looked at him thoughtfully as Frisk shed a few more frustrated tears. His thoughts were only interrupted when he felt his phone vibrate. He looked at it and saw that it was from Mettaton. Inferno looked at Frisk who turned away defeatedly and answered the call.

"Yes, Mettaton?" Inferno asked. "Oh, yes, Frisk is fine. He's just been a bit hyper is all. I took him to the music room to give him something to do."

Frisk smiled in surprise at Inferno's response as his eyes fell on the cases filling the room. Upon closer examination, he realized that these were all instrument cases. Inferno's conversation with Mettaton faded into the background as Frisk's eyes grew wide at seeing more instruments than he had ever seen in one place in his whole life. The flames still filled the room allowing Frisk to see how large the place really was. There were cases of all kinds lying around him. Big ones and small ones and even covered instruments shaped like pianos. They were countless. Frisk couldn't help but smile.

His eyes wandered back to the cases near him. Frisk looked at one of them and realized it was a violin case. He sat down, opened the case, and pulled out one of the most beautifully-crafted violins he had ever seen.

Frisk's mother had taught him to play. It was the only other instrument that he had been taught to play besides the piano and electric guitar. Frisk had almost forgotten he could play it. There was a lot that he had forgotten about.

Frisk smiled as the memories of his mother teaching him the violin filled his heart with happiness. He picked up the instrument and held it the way his mother taught him.

However, as he played the first note, a horrible dissonant note came out. The noise scared Inferno into dropping his phone, but it only made Frisk's face fall in disappointment.

"Crap," Frisk said sitting on the ground and starting to tune the violin like nothing had happened. "It's out-of-tune. Is there a piano around here?"

"What was that?!" Mettaton yelled through the phone. "What was that noise?!"

Inferno caught his breath for a few seconds before he picked up the phone and said, "Sorry, boss, that was Frisk. He was testing out a violin…"

On the other end, Mettaton interrupted, "Hold on. A violin? You mean Frisk knows how to play the violin?"

"Uh, I suppose…" Inferno replied.

"Has he mentioned being able to play anything else?" Mettaton asked.

"He said something about needing a piano to tune the violin so maybe…" Inferno said suddenly noticing that Frisk was out of his line of sight.

Inferno looked around in a panic until he heard a note on a piano. He turned around to see Frisk playing a newly uncovered piano in the corner.

"You sound in tune," Frisk said sitting himself down on the piano bench in front of the piano and picking up the violin he had set aside. "But I should probably test you out to be sure."

Frisk began playing a ragtime piece Inferno had never heard before. The melody played like a romantic waltz as Frisk's fingers ran up and down the keys.

Inferno stood there and watched feeling absolutely spellbound.

"Oh, my God!" Mettaton yelled. "Put me on speaker."

Inferno thoughtlessly obeyed while Frisk continued his performance.

Suddenly, a trapdoor opened, and Mettaton emerged through it and landed on the floor next to Inferno. He said nothing but quietly listened along with his employee while Frisk finished his performance.

"Alright," Frisk said to himself. "I guess this means you're in tune."

"Darling!" Mettaton yelled causing chills to run through Frisk's spine. "You never told me you could play."

Frisk quickly turned around and nervously yelled, "It was none of your damn business!"

"Quite the attitude," Mettaton replied walking past the other instruments to where Frisk was sitting. "But that doesn't matter. Talent like this cannot go to waste. I must get you in front of a crowd. I'll have you perform tonight. How does that sound?"

Frisk went silent and felt his heart skip a beat. He would have frozen if not for the caffeine making him jittery. Frisk couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Mettaton finally made it to Frisk, picked him up, walked away from the piano, and said, "Well, if you have no objections, let's get you a piano."


	72. Chapter 72

Frisk was so frozen in shock that he didn't even try to struggle to escape Mettaton's arms. He couldn't hear anything besides his loud heart beating either. Frisk was carried out of the room before he even noticed that his violin was not in his hands anymore.

"Wait," Frisk said while Mettaton strutted happily with Inferno walking briskly by his side. "What about the violin?"

"I'm getting someone to tune it for you, so you can play it later, darling," Mettaton responded briefly. "Do you play anything else besides the violin and the piano?"

Without thinking, Frisk blurted out, "the guitar."

"Acoustic or electric?"

"Uh…yes."

"Oooh," Mettaton gushed. "This should be interesting."

"But…but I…I can't do this," Frisk stammered out. "I've n-never ever played in front of people before."

"This might be a bit much for the boy, Mettaton," Inferno protested. "He doesn't even have anything prepared."

Mettaton stopped his strutting and said, "You might have a point there, Inferno. He can't play if he has nothing planned. Oh, well. I guess you'll have to play that piece you were just performing, son."

"I'm not your son," Frisk muttered under his breath as Mettaton ignored him and started strutting again.

"Boss, why are you insisting on this?" Inferno pushed. "The human has never performed in front of a live studio audience before. If he messes up, your audience won't be too happy."

Mettaton stopped, quickly dropped Frisk on the floor, and posed dramatically against the wall before he asked, "My dear Inferno, are you questioning my judgment? You know how much I value your input, but I thought you would trust me by now."

Frisk stared pleadingly at Inferno who wracked his brain for a good response that would please everybody.

"Mettaton, I do trust you, but I don't understand why you're taking such a huge risk on something like this," Inferno finally said. "Frisk has never performed before. He could choke. That's a lot of unnecessary pressure for a child…"

"Frisk won't mess up," Mettaton said striking another dramatic pose.

"What makes you say that?" Inferno asked.

"Call it intuition, Inferno," Mettaton said striking yet another dramatic pose. "Somehow I get the feeling that he's not as intimidated as you might think in front of a crowd. I mean, he was barely nervous at all when he was sitting in front of them, and the audience loved him then! How much harder can performing be?"

"Why do you keep talking about me like I'm not here?" Frisk asked in annoyance.

Mettaton looked at Frisk and said, "Hush, darling. Daddy's doing business right now."

"Whatever," Frisk said turning around and taking a few steps away. "I still don't want to perform. It's not happening. I don't care if that makes you unhappy. I'm not your dancing monkey."

As expected by this point, Mettaton crouched down and turned Frisk around by his shoulders. Frisk crossed his arms and stared back into Mettaton's eyes without flinching.

"You're quite the willful and stubborn boy," Mettaton said pulling something from his side compartment. "Aren't you?"

"Determination is what gives me my magic," Frisk said. "I can resist longer than you can push."

"Are you sure about that, darling?" Mettaton asked showing a pink sparkling bracelet with the letters "MTT" on them in white.

"Yeah, I can fight harder than you can," Frisk said using his left hand to move Mettaton's off his shoulder.

Unfortunately for Frisk, Mettaton quickly grabbed that hand, rolled back the sleeve, opened the bracelet, and shut it around Frisk's wrist.

Frisk's eyes flashed in panic when he saw the white letters pulsating. He tried to pull it off his wrist, but it wouldn't budge.

"You don't need to fight harder, darling," Mettaton said with proud smirk. "Just smarter."

"What is this thing?!" Frisk yelled while trying fruitlessly to pull it off. "Why can't I take it off?!"

"Boss, what-?" Inferno asked before Mettaton interrupted him.

"Inferno, would you restrain him for a second?" Mettaton asked.

"Sir, I can't…" Inferno protested gesturing to his flaming form.

"Then, I'll do it," Mettaton said moving behind Frisk and holding a hand over his eyes while he got out his phone with the other.

"No!" Frisk yelled as he desperately tried to pry Mettaton's hand away from his eyes, so he could see what he was doing. "Let me go!"

"Mettaton, what are you doing?" Inferno asked as Frisk struggled and Mettaton opened an app.

"This is a new product my merchandise department showed me this morning," Mettaton said pressing a few buttons and holding Frisk still. "It's a tracking bracelet for parents so they can keep track of their wayward youngsters. It sends a signal back to the app notifying the parents of their child's whereabouts, and the child cannot remove the bracelet unless they know a certain code that the parents input into the app."

Mettaton punched in his four-number code and showed the results to Inferno.

"See this?" Mettaton asked. "It's the same as my phone's passcode. Remember it just in case. Also, download the app for yourself so you can keep track of your kids. It's free."

Inferno nodded once to show he understood.

The bracelet beeped, and Mettaton finally released his hand from Frisk's eyes.

"I hope you like the trinket, Frisk," Mettaton said standing up and looking at his young charge who was looking at his new tracking bracelet. "You're the first child to wear it. I thought you could test it before I release it to the public. Please tell me what you think of it, darling, for marketing purposes."

Frisk looked down at his new bracelet and shuddered fearfully. Any chance he had of running away without Mettaton noticing was now gone. He was now officially his prisoner. A tear escaped the corner of his eye. Nonetheless, Frisk put on his brave face.

"It's ugly," Frisk complained before he unsuccessfully tried to use his determination to smash it against the wall. "I don't like it. I want it off now."

"I figured as much," Mettaton said crouching down in front of him. "You like such dark colors. We'll have to vary up our product line for children like you with more depressing tastes. But for today, darling, I'll take it off when we get home. Don't worry too much. After a while, I'm sure you won't even notice it's there."

"Yeah, right," Frisk said sarcastically. "You'll keep it on for all eternity."

"You think too little of me, darling. That hurts my feelings."

"I say I think too much of you, and I think you're an asshole!"

"I have to ask you to stop swearing so much. What if an audience member were to hear that?"

"TOUGH TITTIES, BITCH!" Frisk screamed at the top of his lungs as he looked straight into Mettaton's eyes. "YOU ARE NOT MY FUCKING DAD! I…mph..."

Mettaton quickly covered Frisk's mouth and pinned him against the wall. Frisk glared into Mettaton's eyes while Mettaton haughtily looked back into his.

"You need to calm yourself down, darling," Mettaton said while stroking the boy's hair. "You're about to perform on-stage after all. You need to be careful, darling. After all, you remember what happened the last time you disobeyed. Now, I don't want to keep punishing you on what's supposed to be the happiest day of your life, but I will if I must. Understand? So please, relax."

Mettaton let go of Frisk and let him get off the wall.

Frisk glared at him for another second and walked ahead of him. Once he was no longer looking at Mettaton, Frisk dropped his composure for a second and allowed a shudder to run through him.

Unfortunately, that was not lost on Mettaton.

"Oh, dear," Mettaton said scooping up Frisk in his arms again and holding him close in a hug while continuing to walk to their destination. "I scared you. I'm sorry. There, there, let Daddy make you feel better."

"Yeah, right," Frisk muttered under his breath.

Mettaton ignored him and kept walking while Inferno slowly followed behind them.


	73. Chapter 73

Mettaton continued making plans with Inferno while holding Frisk in his arms. He was annoyingly averse to letting Frisk walk on the floor, but the boy in his arms had other things on his mind.

While being held against Mettaton's side, Frisk was texting his friends and praying that any possible solution could come to mind. They were on a large group chat, so many ideas were being bounced around.

"Why don't you drown the bracelet in water?" Papyrus suggested.

"That won't work," Alphys said. "I've designed wearable technology before. It's useful, but if it gets wet, there's a possibility it could short circuit."

"Alphys, is that you?" Undyne asked.

"Yes, Napstablook and I are on the way to the studio now to help Frisk," Alphys replied. "Is that alright? I wouldn't want to steal your grand entrance."

"Of course not," Undyne replied back. "Uh, I forgot what I was going to say."

"You were going to come up with a solution to help Frisk get his bracelet off," Sans said.

"Oh, yeah!" Undyne said. "Why don't you try stabbing it with something sharp?"

Frisk quietly rammed his bracelet against the spike on one of Mettaton's shoulder pads as quickly as he could. All his efforts managed to do was get Mettaton's attention.

"Frisk, darling?" Mettaton asked. "What is the matter? What are you doing?"

"I want you to put me down," Frisk complained. "I'm tired of being carried everywhere. I'm not a baby. I want to walk."

"If that's what you want, dear," Mettaton said pausing and placing Frisk on the floor. "I suppose it is alright. After all, I have the tracker on you now. I don't need to worry about where you are anymore. Just please, do keep up."

After ruffling his hair, Mettaton walked on ahead and continued talking to Inferno while Frisk walked slowly behind them.

When some distance was made, Frisk replied to his texts.

"It didn't work," he said. "All it did was get Mettaton to put me down."

"Well, that's some success," Papyrus said. "Isn't it? Now, you can walk around and find a way to escape."

"I can't escape, Papyrus," Frisk replied. "He has this bracelet on me. The moment I get out of his sight all he has to do is look at that stupid app. I'm his prisoner now."

All the messengers were helpless on the other end of the line. Everyone fell silent. That is, except for one person.

The first message came from Sans who wrote, "Don't be scared, Frisk. When we finish this paperwork, we will shortcut right over there. No matter what that piece-of-shit robot pulls, we won't give up. You'll be back home in no time. Just hang on, kiddo."

Sans' message inspired the others.

"Yeah!" Papyrus said. "Then, we'll officially be a family and we can have a huge party."

"Don't worry, punk," Undyne said. "King Jackass won't know what hit him."

Frisk smiled and sent him a smiley face text message.

Sans sent Frisk a message outside of the group chat that said, "I wasn't there for you before, kiddo. I'm sorry, but I promise to make it up to you. I won't ever abandon you again, Frisk. None of us will. You have nothing to worry about."

Frisk sent another smiley face before he held his phone close to his heart. The love and loyalty of his friends filled his heart with determination. His HP raised by another point.

While Frisk was basking in the love of his new family, he received another message on his phone. Frisk looked at his phone in surprise. This time, it was from Napstablook.

"Frisk, I have been talking to Sans," Napstablook said. "We both agree that you need to put more stock into your plan to make Hapstablook not want you anymore, and I think I know something that could help you with that."

"Ok, what?" Frisk replied.

"Being upset and grumpy won't turn Mettaton away," Napstablook replied. "He has changed a lot since he left, but he has never been scared away by depression. I would know. You have to be angry and uncooperative. He doesn't like dealing with angry people. He's a people pleaser."

"That is really good advice, Napstablook," Frisk said. "Thank you."

On the other end, Napstablook hesitated for a moment, but Alphys put her hand on his shoulder to encourage him. That encouragement was all he needed to keep typing.

"Frisk, there's something I need to know," Napstablook said. "If Mettaton decided to hate you and tried to kill you instead, what would you do?"

Frisk paused in place for a moment allowing his captor to walk ahead of him before he replied, "I don't know. I don't want to kill him."

"You've killed Mettaton before," Napstablook replied. "Haven't you? It's alright. You can tell me the truth."

Frisk paused in place and shook fearfully at the memories. He hesitated as he stared at the message for a few moments. Frisk knew what could happen if Napstablook didn't take the news well.

Nonetheless, Frisk was a different person now. He couldn't hide the truth from his friend.

So, Frisk decided to reply honestly.

"Yes, I did," Frisk replied sadly. "Napstablook, I'm so sorry."

Frisk sent his message, but Napstablook didn't reply. Tears fell at the corners of Frisk's eyes. He just knew that he had lost one of his dearest friends.

"I did it the first time because I was angry, and I thought he was evil," Frisk typed. "All the other times, Mettaton was trying to kill me, so he could take my soul, run away to the surface, and be famous with other humans. I thought that weakening him until I could spare him would make him give up, but it never worked. Mettaton never gave up. He was the only one I could never figure out how to spare."

After Frisk sent that message, Napstablook started typing a message of his own.

When Frisk saw those dots, he typed, "Napstablook, I'm sorry I never told you. I knew the moment I did you would hate me. That's why I never told anyone anything either. I tried to kill myself 3 times, but the Almighty interfered every single time. He brought Sans and Papyrus to me. He didn't give up on me. My new brothers didn't either. I even tried sharing all my memories with them to make them let me die, but they still wouldn't let me go. I tried resetting to before I fell so I could get out of your lives permanently, but the Almighty wouldn't let me. Now, I can't do that stuff anymore, but they have all forgiven me."

Frisk sent that message. It made Napstablook pause for a moment before he finally sent a message of his own.

"Napstablook," Frisk began to type. "If you hate me, I understand…"

A message from Napstablook suddenly came in.

"Frisk, I forgive you for what happened the first time," the message read. "I'm proud of you for repenting. As for those other times, you don't need to be mad at yourself. It was justified."

The last part made Frisk pause, but before he could think of a reply, another message came through from Napstablook.

Frisk continued to read, "If this run was like all the others, Mettaton would have done the same thing to you. It hurts me to think about it. He wanted to kill an innocent human just to get what he wanted. He wanted to leave everyone in the Underground behind, including me, just so he could be rich and famous with humans. He didn't even think about how we felt. The Hapstablook I knew would never do that. He's not the same ghost anymore. He's gone."

Frisk paused. He didn't know how to reply. Before Frisk could think of anything, Napstablook sent another reply.

"Frisk, getting Mettaton to not want you anymore is a good idea, but it could make him want to kill you if you make him angry enough," Napstablook said. "If that happens, I won't be mad if you kill him before he kills you."

Frisk paused in shock silence for a moment. His legs stopped walking as he allowed Mettaton and Inferno to gain even a greater distance. Once they gained enough distance, the hallway was silent. Frisk could hear the air flow through the air conditioning ducts, the buzz of the fluorescent lights, and his own breathing. After another moment in the silence, he finally thought of a comprehensible reply.

"Napstablook, why are you saying this?" Frisk finally replied to him. "I'm a pacifist now. I don't want to kill Mettaton again."

Napstablook's reply was surprisingly fast.

"I don't want you to either," Napstablook said. "I mean I know you can't reset anymore, and you'll try your best not to do it. I appreciate that. But if only one of you is to make it out alive, I'd rather it be you than him, because with you, I know I will never be alone. I'll make sure you don't get lonely either. :')"

Frisk finished reading the message and put the phone back in his pocket. He started rubbing the arms of his sweater again.

"God, this can't happen," Frisk prayed out loud. "I won't let it happen. I can't go back to what I was. Please give me a plan."

"FRISK!" Frisk suddenly heard a flamboyant voice yell from up the hall. "Frisk, darling, what is the matter? Why aren't you moving?"

It wasn't long before Mettaton made his appearance. He strutted over to his child with Inferno following behind him.

"Darling, I said you could walk as long as you kept up with me," Mettaton said squatting to Frisk's eye-level. "If you can't do that, you're going to have to let me carry you…"

Frisk spotted where Mettaton's phone was stored on his waist and immediately came up with another plan. God was good.

"Frisk?" Mettaton asked impatiently. "Frisk, are you listening to me?"

Frisk smiled and bolted past Mettaton before he had time to react. He continued running without looking back until he was past Inferno and out of sight.

Mettaton stood up, sighed, and said, "I'm beginning to think you were right about the coffee thing, after all, Inferno. He has too much energy right now."

"Frisk just needs to run it off," Inferno said reassuringly. "He'll lose that energy after a while."

"I hope so," Mettaton said feeling for his phone on his waist. "'Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton' will be arriving at their next trial in…Where's my phone?"

Mettaton looked down on his waist where his phone would normally be latched on to, but his phone was not there.

"Inferno, you didn't take my phone," Mettaton asked his stage manager. "Did you?"

"No, sir," Inferno replied.

"Then…" Mettaton said to himself while the pieces finally came together. "OH, MY GOD! THAT AWFUL LITTLE BRAT!"

Frisk heard the yelling from down the hall in the janitor's closet where he was hiding. He snickered to himself as he locked the door behind him and placed Mettaton's phone in the large sink. Frisk smiled as determination gave him some energy. Maybe he didn't know the password, but that didn't matter if the phone was destroyed.

Sans was wrong about one thing. Frisk hadn't completely lost his touch as a thief.


	74. Chapter 74

Frisk stuffed the sink's drain with rags and turned on the water. He smiled as the water quickly filled up the sink and submerged the phone inside it.

Frisk was so satisfied. He turned back to texting his family.

"Guys, I did it!" Frisk said to the group chat. "I stole Mettaton's phone, locked myself in a closet, and dumped it in a sink full of water. Now, Mettaton won't be able to track me! I'm free!"

Everyone cheered Frisk on and congratulated him on his success, except for Alphys.

"Frisk," Alphys texted. "His phone is waterproof! I know! I made it myself!"

"What?" Frisk responded before he heard a loud ring from the phone in the sink.

Frisk looked into the sink in a panic. The phone was vibrating and ringing a muffled song that Frisk could hear despite it being submerged in water. It was from Inferno.

"Frisk?!" Frisk heard Mettaton yell from down the hall. "Frisk, you little brat, where did you go?!"

Frisk quickly rolled up the sleeve on his right arm, reached into the water, and declined the call before Mettaton could get within hearing distance. As Mettaton's footsteps grew closer, he pulled the phone out of the water and turned off the ringer. Then he hid in a corner and prayed for the best.

Mettaton stopped in front of the janitor's closet where he was hiding. Frisk practically held his breath.

Mettaton tried calling Frisk again, but Frisk declined the call again before the phone could make a peep.

"Oh, my God," Mettaton complained. "He's declining my calls! What an ungrateful little brat!"

"Now, now, sir," Inferno chided. "I know you're upset, but you need to remember that Frisk is just a boy with a rough past. You need to be more patient with him. He's gone through a lot of changes in one day, and he's acting out because he's upset…"

"Inferno, he stole my phone. All my plans are on it. If I don't get it back, everything's out of whack…"

"Mettaton, no offense, but this is a bigger problem than just your missing phone. Frisk is rebelling. He's fighting against you at every step because he's miserable and thinks you don't care. He wants nothing to do with you as it is, and I have a feeling that things will keep getting worse. I hate to say this, but at this rate, there's no way he's going to be good for business. Maybe, we should rethink this whole plan. I just don't think we're capable of dealing with him as he is."

"You know, Inferno, you might have a point…"

Frisk felt his spirits lifting. Inferno had done it. If Mettaton thought he was more trouble than he was worth, then he would have to let him go. It was too perfect…

"After tonight, I'm going to keep Frisk out of the spotlight for a while," Mettaton said.

Frisk could practically hear his heart sinking as a few tears wet his face.

"Sir?" Inferno asked.

"That's right," Mettaton replied. "Starting tonight, I'm going to keep Frisk at home, so we can deal with his issues. In the mornings, I'll get tutors to catch him up with school. In the afternoons, I'll take him to intense psychotherapy. In the evenings, I'll spend time with him nursing him back to health. Then rinse and repeat. I'll keep him that way until he's emotionally stable enough to go out in public again. Then, maybe in a few months, Frisk will be improved enough for another public debut…"

"Mettaton, you can't put a timetable on psychological recovery, especially not with children. It's going to be a huge investment of your time. Can you really afford to spend that much time with him? I still think your time would be better invested in other things."

"Inferno, don't you realize how worthwhile an investment Frisk is? With him around as a regular presence, there are so many opportunities to be explored and so many ways for us to inspire our lovely audience! You know what a big deal that is, Inferno?! Do you know how much we could do? We could inspire all monsters! We could improve human-monster relations! We could free people! We could be the saviors of the Underground! Think of what that'll do for them, not to mention our ratings."

"I understand, sir, but none of that will happen if Frisk refuses to cooperate. He hates you enough as is. If his current family loses the obstacle course, Frisk's behavior will get much worse."

"All the better for showbiz, Inferno. The drama is great for ratings. Besides, I've already signed the little human's adoption papers. I can't just let him go."

When Inferno didn't respond, Mettaton dramatically posed against the door causing Frisk's heart to skip a beat.

"I appreciate all your concerns, Inferno," Mettaton said. "But you need to trust me on this one. I know what I'm doing. We've got it all under control."

"Sir, Frisk stole your phone and ran away," Inferno said more sternly than before. "I don't think we're in control here."

"Don't worry, my dear Inferno. I'll get Frisk back somehow and find a way to make him cooperate. I know I'll figure out something. I do know how to charm any heart. I can also be persuasive when I want to be. I'll win the boy over, and if that doesn't work, I've got the psychotherapists."

Mettaton then turned around and continued walking down the hall.

"Don't dilly dally, Inferno," Mettaton chided. "If we don't find my son soon, my audience and I shall be rather put out."

Inferno sighed disappointedly before walking to catch up with his boss.

When the two's footsteps were out of earshot, Frisk finally allowed himself to breathe and let his body tremble with fear.

His first response was to update everyone on the group chat. Frisk then sat silently as he tried to pray and calm himself down while he waited to receive the comforting messages from his family.

He couldn't believe what he just heard. If Frisk and his family lost this fight, he would be locked away and brainwashed until he conformed, just like the kids at the mental health wards…

Frisk's memory was interrupted with a text message unexpectedly from Undyne.

"Punk, remember what I told you about being scared?" Undyne texted. "It sucks, but you can endure it. If you can endure it, you will survive. You have already outsmarted the Ultimate Jackass King once. Find a way to keep it going. Destroy that phone before he catches up with ya."

"Wow, that was really encouraging," Sans replied. "I'm impressed. You have more of a soft side than I thought."

"I can't tell if that's a compliment or not," Undyne replied. "I'm not sure how to react."

"That was a compliment," Sans replied.

"Yeah," Alphys gushed. "You're amazing!"

"That better have been a compliment," Papyrus added. "No one insults my wife!"

"PAPYRUS, FOR THE LAST TIME, WE ARE NOT MARRIED!" Undyne replied.

The last reply made Frisk snicker so much that he decided to add laughing face emojis to his text message reply.

To that, Sans replied, "I'm glad your spirits are holding up, Frisk. Stay determined, kiddo."

"Yeah, Mettaton saying those things is a sign that he's already upset with you," Napstablook added. "If you keep pushing and do something really bad, he'll not want you for sure."

Frisk smiled and replied, "Ok, I'm going to climb the vents to the top of the building and throw Mettaton's phone off the roof. That should break it for sure."

"That'll do it," Alphys replied. "Mettaton's phone shouldn't be able to withstand a fall from that height."

"Good plan, kiddo," Sans responded. "Then, get out of there as quickly as you can. Be careful, Frisk."

Everyone else sent encouraging messages of the same caliber.

Frisk sent a thumbs-up emoji and looked for something he could climb on to reach the vent on the wall above him just under the ceiling. Against the wall across from him was a cart filled with janitor's supplies. It was the perfect boost.

He stood up, walked over, and pushed the cart to his side of the room.

Frisk very easily managed to climb on the cart and keep himself balanced while he undid the screws of the vent with the same technique he used in the bathroom.

Frisk smiled when the screws and grating fell on the floor without a problem. The abilities he had before were returning. Maybe he could endure this mess without being enslaved by Mettaton after all.

Frisk made sure both phones were tucked away securely in his pockets before he climbed into the ventilation shaft. Once inside the vents, he used his slowly recovering determination to go as fast as he could, and Frisk made remarkable progress. God was so good.

Frisk continued crawling through the vents for a little while without interruption.

Unfortunately, that was when the Voice in head said, "Frisk, I need you to trust me. No matter what happens. You'll get through this, and you'll show mercy."

"Why on earth are you saying—AHHHHH?!" Frisk yelled as he fell through a loose grating into the studio below him where he and Mettaton were before.

The audience gasped in surprise and horror at seeing the human child fall from the vents. Fortunately, before Frisk could fall on an audience member, he was caught by his soul and pulled over the seats until he was placed safely on the stage.

Frisk took a moment to catch his breath and gather his bearings as he looked around for his rescuer and saw River standing off-stage to his left.

While the audience murmured confusedly, Frisk ran over to River and said, "Thanks for saving me! Now, let's find Burgerpants and get out of here."

"We can't, Frisk," River said placing a hand on Frisk's shoulder before the child could run off-stage. "Not now."

"Why not? What do you mean?"

"Mettaton has ordered everyone to look for you. Burgerpants included. Now that the audience members have seen you, it's only a matter of time before someone breaks the news to Mettaton. If I shortcut you out of here now, Mettaton will know I had something to do with it, and he'll use his legal authority as your guardian to have me arrested for kidnapping and maybe you arrested for stealing."

Frisk's eyes flashed in a panic as he asked, "Wait, could he do the same thing to my friends if they come here to save me?"

"Yes, unless they have the correct legal documentation to fight him. Understand now?" River replied. "We have to come up with another plan."

Frisk felt his heart drop. His friends were risking much more than he realized to help him. Frisk's actions had more unintended consequences than he knew. There just had to be something he could do to make the situation better…Wait, there was…

Another idea struck Frisk's mind like lightning. He knew just how he could buy his friends time and get his buddies at the studio out of trouble.

Once again, God was good.

"River, I have an idea," Frisk said before stepping back out onstage. "Just watch."

The audience silenced their murmurs as Frisk made his way to the center of the stage. The latter smirked as he pulled out Mettaton's phone and waved it in front of the audience.

"HEY, GUYS!" Frisk yelled as loudly as he could. "WHO WANTS METTATON'S OLD PHONE?!"

The audience began yelling and clamoring towards the stage as quickly as they could in an excited frenzy. Frisk's confident expression sank as the horde of monsters closed in on him. In a panic, he tossed the device into the crowd, and all hell broke loose.

Monsters used all the powers at their disposal to obtain the technological device before them. The fire man used his flames to keep others away while Aaron fought back with his acidic sweat. A froggit jumped on top of the phone while the two were fighting each other. A parsnik sent her snakes to attack the froggit while she picked up the phone in her mouth. It was absolute chaos.

Frisk smiled and glanced back at River who gave him a thumbs up. River then gestured for Frisk to come over to him.

"I must say, child, that was brilliant," River said clearly impressed.

"I just pray it'll keep everyone occupied for a while," Frisk replied. "Let's go."

River grabbed onto Frisk's hand, and they shortcut outside to the boathouse.

"Now, what?" Frisk asked.

River lifted his right hand. It glowed brightly in a purple light.

"What are you doing?" Frisk asked.

"I'm calling my boat, so we can escape," River replied.

"We have to go to Snowdin. Can't you just shortcut us there?"

"I can't shortcut that far, child. My magic isn't as strong as your brothers'. That's why I use the boat. Besides, even if I could, I don't know where in Snowdin you want me to take you."

"We have to go to the Ruins and we can't make it there by the river, but you don't have to worry. Once we arrive in Snowdin and I run by the house to get my book, I'll lead us there. I just need you to protect me."

"That's a tall order, child," River said turning to Frisk with a smile in his voice. "What will you give me for completing this mission?"

"Well, uh, I have the checks…" Frisk began.

"I'm kidding, child," River said in his calm and dry tone. "I thought I could lighten the mood with a joke. I guess it didn't work. Sorry. Tee hee hee."

Frisk chuckled to himself while looking out in the water for his ride.

"I guess it worked after all," River said with more emotion escaping through his monotone.

"What is it with you skeletons and bad jokes?" Frisk asked out loud.

"Now, you're the one who's being racist," River responded sarcastically.

Meanwhile, back in the building, a grey-haired temmie finally managed to grab the phone and run away from the crowd with it.

"YEAH, IMMA GO TO COLLEGE NOW!" she yelled gleefully as she quickly ran backstage with the phone in her mouth.

The crowd saw the temmie bolt backstage and ran after her just as Mettaton was opening the door to the backstage area with Inferno and Burgerpants following close behind him.

Temmie saw the opening and stretched her front legs until they reached past Mettaton and the two monsters behind him.

"What the…?!" Mettaton asked out loud as Temmie's head and body quickly propelled forward to catch up with the rest of her.

"HOI, METTATON!" Temmie yelled with the phone still between her teeth as her body returned to its normal shape and she continued her dash.

Not a second later, the crowd stampeded through the trio standing by the door. Mettaton stomped his foot and created a portal into the backstage area on the other side of the crowd. Burgerpants escaped the horde with his telekinesis while Inferno flew with his fire.

"What the hell is going on?" Burgerpants asked out loud as the horde of monsters finally passed by. "Was that the audience?"

Mettaton ran into the hall out of breath and gasping for air as his two companions landed on the ground.

"Mettaton?" Inferno asked. "Are you alright?"

"That…temmie…" Mettaton said between breaths. "She has my phone!"

"What?" Burgerpants asked.

Mettaton dashed past Inferno and Burgerpants after the crowd following Temmie down the hall. The other two quickly used their powers to fly and catch up with him.


	75. Chapter 75

"Alright, done," Frisk said as he finally finished copying Burgerpants' and River's number into his phone.

"Good," River said. "Now, you have the numbers just in case."

Frisk went back to updating his family before he put his phone in his pocket and looked out over the river. It was quiet except for the peaceful sound of the river rushing by. The current wasn't that strong, so the rush wasn't too loud. It was just loud enough to lull one's mind into a state of calm reflection. It gave Frisk a sense of hope.

"Hey, River," Frisk said reluctantly interrupting the calm. "I know you're really risking your neck for me. Thanks for doing this."

River looked at Frisk for a moment and quickly turned away. Frisk couldn't explain why, but he could tell something was wrong.

"River, are you-?" Frisk began to ask.

"You shouldn't be thanking me, human," River said.

"Why?"

"Because I'm an accomplice."

Frisk felt the rug get pulled out from under him.

His stomach dropped as he inconspicuously typed a short text message to his family that read, "River's a traitor" before he willed himself to look back to River and ask, "Why?"

River sadly looked back at Frisk and said, "I used to work for Mettaton as his lawyer. I retired not too long ago and made my boating hobby a full-time taxi service, but we're still on decent terms. He asked me if he could borrow my boat. He also asked me if I would help him keep an eye on you. That's why Mettaton found you on the beach and hanging outside the bathroom window. Burgerpants knew I used to work with him, but he didn't know I was helping him. Mettaton doesn't know anything about Burgerpants' involvement with you either…"

"So, you're another traitor…" Frisk trailed off.

"I _was_. I told Mettaton when you were onstage, but he has no idea where you are now."

"So, you're on my side now? What changed your mind?"

"If I wanted to sound noble, I would say it was your courage. That is honestly a reason. But if I wanted to be honest, I mostly feel like sticking it to Mettaton. I have wanted to since I stopped working for him. You see, he is annoyingly demanding to all his employees. He pays well, but he'll work you like a slave and make your life miserable. I only worked for him for 6 months, and it was enough to make me quit being a lawyer altogether."

"Wow," Frisk said. "That sounds terrible."

"You have no idea," River replied as the boat finally came into view. "He treats Burgerpants the same way. I hate it. Burgerpants does, too. Our mutual hatred is what helped us bond so quickly at the casino. Anyways, I was helping Mettaton for the bonus check. But your audacity has inspired me, and I have too much respect for you to let it all be for nothing."

Frisk inconspicuously texted his family that River was a good guy now, put his phone away again, and smiled.

"Thanks, anyway," Frisk said quietly as the boat finally arrived at the boathouse.

River telekinetically placed Frisk on the boat before he shortcut to the front and began steering the boat away from the port.

"You can thank me when we can laugh at Mettaton from a distance," River said as the legs rose above the water and began sprinting.

"Definitely," Frisk replied with a smile.

Unfortunately, that was when they heard the back-exit door fly open. Frisk turned around and saw Temmie rushing through.

The little creature looked over, saw the boat, and screamed, "HOI, FERRYMAN! IMMA NEED A RIDE! WAIT FER MEH!"

River courteously lowered the boat into the water to wait for the cat creature to stretch her way over to the boat. But sadly, that was when the fan horde began pouring out of the back door.

"THERE, SHE IS!" someone in the horde screamed causing the whole audience to rush towards the boat. "GET THAT PHONE!"

The human and skeleton on the boat suddenly realized what Temmie was carrying in her mouth.

"That can't be good," Frisk said.

"Nope," River said raising the boat back out of the water. "Hold on, Frisk."

Frisk ran over to River and wrapped his arms around his waist.

"That works," River replied right before the boat started running downstream.

The boat accelerated almost quickly enough to knock Frisk over. Seeing this, River turned Frisk's soul blue and held it in place while still managing to control the boat.

"Thanks!" Frisk yelled over the rushing crowd.

River looked down at him and said, "Like I said, don't thank me yet. We still have to get away. I just hope Mettaton doesn't see any of this."

"HEY!" Temmie yelled as she stopped on the shore and backed up while extending her legs and aiming herself towards the boat riding away. "WAIT FOR TEM!"

Once her front paws were dug into the ground to give her a solid support, Temmie lifted her body off the ground and allowed her flexible legs to launch her into the air like a catapult.

Frisk peeked back and felt his heart flutter in a panic.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIII!" Temmie yelled sailing straight towards them with the phone somehow still in her mouth. "TEM COMING ABOARD!"

Despite River's efforts to make his boat run faster, the temmie landed on his boat right behind him. The crowd stopped on the shore and started whining and shouting after the boat and its passengers.

Temmie dropped the phone on the boat and said, "GO FAST AS YOU TEM TA WATERFALL! IMMA GO TO COLLEGE!"

"Uh, right away," River replied as he attempted to push Frisk over to the side.

Temmie quickly saw Frisk and said loudly, "HOI, HUMAN! WHY YOU NO BACK AT STUDIO WITH METTATON?!"

"Goddammit," Frisk whispered to himself.

"Hey! She's right," he heard another monster yell from the shore. "What are you doing on the boat, child?!"

The crowd continued to express similar sentiments from the shore as Frisk hid behind River as well as he could.

"WHY YOU HIDE, HOOMAN?!" Temmie asked as loudly as she possibly could. "WHY YOU SCARED?!"

"Shut up," Frisk pleaded.

"WHY?!" Temmie screamed. "WHY I NEED TO SHUT UP, HOOMAN?"

Frisk looked at the crowd and sighed in relief as he noticed the boat was gaining distance. Soon, they would turn the bend and not see the studio at all.

"Now, what?" Frisk asked River.

"We should be fine as long as Mettaton doesn't…" River said stopping mid-sentence. "Oh, no…"

Frisk peaked out from behind River to see that Mettaton was standing on the shore and talking to the monsters in the crowd who were pointing in their direction as the boat finally crossed the bend.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit," Frisk said. "God, what do we do? Huh?"

Without a word, River had picked up Frisk by his soul.

He then tossed him on the shore and said, "Run as far as you can, Frisk. I'll try to distract him."

Frisk stood up, brushed himself off, and nodded before dashing as quickly as he could through the sand to reach the boardwalk.

"WHAT'S GOING ON, TEM?!" Temmie yelled in confusion.

"Madame, please, I must ask that you stop yelling," River pleaded with her. "Listen to me, if you don't say where the human has gone, I'll buy the phone from you."

"YAY, TEM!" Temmie squealed joyfully.

Just then, a portal opened and Mettaton jumped out. River reluctantly stopped the boat right in the water.

The portal dissolved behind him, and he struck a dramatic pose before asking, "River, what are you doing?"

"I got bored," River replied. "So, I decided to go back to work and just happened to receive this young lady as a customer."

"So, you decided to take this temmie home even though she stole my phone?"

"Yes, tra la la!"

Mettaton rolled his eyes, looked around, and said, "Alright then, where is my son?"

"You mean the human?" River asked.

"Duh," Mettaton said crossing his arms.

"Haven't seen him," River lied.

"Oh, really?" Mettaton asked narrowing his artificial eyes. "I guess everyone on shore was lying then."

"HE'S NOT LYING, TEM!" Temmie added. "I HAVEN'T SEEN TEM!"

Mettaton turned around, crouched down in front of her, and said, "You don't have to defend him, dear. My human son stole my phone and gave it away without my permission. I do apologize for the confusion, but you really must give me my phone back."

"NO, TEM!" Temmie yelled. "THE HOOMAN GAVE ME THIS PHONE! I NEED IT TO PAY FOR COLLEGE!"

"But, dear…" Mettaton protested.

"NOI EXCUSES!" Temmie yelled back. "IMMA GO TO COLLEGE! Besides, I have a buyer already."

"Who?"

"HIM, TEM! FERRYMAN, HOW MUCH MONEY WILL YA GIVE FOR TEM?!"

Mettaton turned around, glared at River, and said, "River, what on earth are you playing at?"

"You might say that I just want to help a fine young woman go to college," River said. "While that is a big reason, if you want me to be completely honest, I hate you."

Mettaton's face had a flash of sadness that was quickly replaced with an angry scowl.

"Right now, I don't think I'm too fond of you either," Mettaton replied. "How much are you buying my phone for then, River?"

"However much the temmie wants me to pay," River said without flinching.

"HOI!" Temmie said. "I WANT 1000G! TEM!"

"1000G, then," River said to Mettaton condescendingly.

"Is that number supposed to scare me?" Mettaton replied before turning to Temmie and saying, "2000G!"

Temmie's face shook in absolute excitement.

"3000G," River said. "I was a lawyer. Remember?"

"4000G," Mettaton said without flinching.

"5000G!"

"6000G!"

"7000G!"

"8000G!"

"9000G!"

"10,000G and all the free merchandise you want!"

"HOI!" Temmie screamed at the top of her lungs. "TEM CAN'T TAKE THE EXCITEMENT! TEM! I'LL TAKE 10,000G AND DUH FREE MERCH!"

"Sold," Mettaton said smugly glancing at River before writing the temmie a check for 10,000G.

Temmie handed him the phone and squealed in delight as he handed her the check.

"NOW, TEM CAN GO TO COLLEG AND GRAD SCHOOL!" she squealed. "THANKS, TEM!"

"No problem, darling," Mettaton replied with a wink which caused her to faint in happiness.

Mettaton glanced condescendingly at River as he unlocked his phone and said, "I have to hand it to you, River. You have more gall than I ever imagined. If it wasn't used against me, I might beg you to come back…"

"You couldn't pay me to come back to working for you," River said harshly. "You use people like tools and don't care about anyone except yourself or your audience. It's no wonder your 'son' doesn't want anything to do with you."

Mettaton's face betrayed no emotion as he opened the app to find Frisk and said, "I'm sorry you feel that way."

The app said that Frisk was wandering the streets of the city.

Mettaton switched to his text messaging app, but the next second, he couldn't move.

Mettaton looked up to see his body was glowing purple and River glaring at him with his hood down and his eyes glowing purple.

River tossed Mettaton across the river and yelled, "Stay off my boat, ya jerk!"

Mettaton yelled in surprise as he fell into the river's steadily flowing water.

River smiled in satisfaction as he pulled his hood over his head and got his boat going again so he could take the stunned Temmie home.

Unfortunately, before River could even get out of view, Mettaton's arms shot out of the water, stretched onto the beach until they reached the wooden beams of the boardwalk, and pulled himself on shore. Even more sadly, Mettaton managed to hold onto his phone between his fake teeth.

River felt his heart sink as Mettaton yelled after him, "Nice try, but me and my phone are waterproof, bitch!"

Nonetheless, Mettaton's suit needed to be allowed to repair itself and his son was nowhere in sight, so he texted his "extra help" and created a portal back to his dressing room.


	76. Chapter 76

Meanwhile, Frisk had made it up the boardwalk and was wandering the streets of the city looking for a bank to cash his checks in so that he and his family could afford provisions while they were in hiding.

It was an eerie feeling of familiarity for Frisk to be wandering a city again. The old emotions, memories, and instincts came flooding back. He found himself remembering his desperation, his laser focus on surviving from one day to the next, his loneliness…

The memories grew so intense that Frisk found himself wondering what he was going to steal for dinner. He shook his head to get his mind on his mission, but he couldn't shake off the feelings.

It didn't help that the city of the Underground looked just like the cities on the surface either. It had tall buildings, sidewalks, neon signs, advertisements, everything that a normal city had, except for all the monsters and the remarkably clean streets. Again, it was eerie.

"Are you alright?" the Voice asked. "You don't have to lie about it. You know you can't with me."

Upon hearing that response to his silent prayers, tears started clouding Frisk's vision. He found an ally dumpster to hide behind and started hyperventilating. Frisk knew by now what was happening.

"Dammit," he whispered to himself. "This can't happen. Not now. God, make it stop. Undyne's right. I'm not there anymore. I can't think like that. Why is this happening now?"

"You can't suppress your feelings, son," the Almighty said. "Let them out and you'll feel my peace."

"That'll take forever."

"No, it won't. Just breathe."

Frisk reluctantly obeyed and whispered, "I was just so lonely. I hated feeling like that. It was so unfair…"

Frisk's voice was too choked up to keep talking, but he silently let out tears that wet his face.

The Voice said nothing, but Frisk felt a warmth coming from inside his soul. It was the warmth that came from a warm hug, the warmth that came from receiving love and reassurance.

Frisk wiped his tears and suddenly felt the energy to get up again, so he could save the monsters who loved him so much. He stood up and walked out from behind the dumpster.

"Now, that didn't take forever," the Voice said. "Did it? Now, stay determined, my son. I love you."

Frisk smiled and mouthed, "I love you, too."

He was relieved. His feelings were not completely gone, but for the time being, they had lost their weight and their power over his weary soul.

Frisk was so happy that he almost didn't notice the bank he walked past. Fortunately, he noticed in time and walked into the smaller official-looking building.

Upon entering, Frisk looked around at the marble tile floors, walls, ceilings, and other décor while trying to figure out what to do. The last time he had been in a bank was with his parents when he was younger, but that was too long ago. He didn't even know what to ask.

"Young man, can I help you?" a lion man in a suit asked from behind the long counter where all the other bank tellers were standing.

"Uh, yeah," Frisk said quickly walking over to the counter and standing on the tips of toes to see the lion on the other side. "I have this check that I would like to give you for cash. Could you do that for me please?"

"Sure, human," the lion man replied. "May I see the check please?"

"Yeah, of course," Frisk said reaching in his pocket and searching around until he found the check Mettaton gave him. "It's right here."

Frisk showed the check to the lion man. His eyes expanded in amazement.

"50,000G!" the lion man yelled. "Where on earth did you get money like this?"

"It's a long story…" Frisk lied as the lion took the check to read it more closely.

"Mettaton?" the lion man said in surprise as all the other bank tellers turned around and looked at him. "Oh, man. You are one lucky human."

"I'd beg to differ," Frisk muttered quietly.

"Anyhow, what did you want to do with all this money?"

"I wanted to get some cash. I don't have any money right now, and I could really use some."

"Son, that is not how the bank works. We can't just give you all that cash now…"

"Why not? You could put it in a backpack or something."

"Human, that's not the problem. The problem is that we don't have that much cash on hand."

"Why not?"

"You don't know how banks work. Do you, son?" the lion asked.

"Well…" Frisk replied searching for something to say.

"Son, we could get you that much money, but we'd have to order it from our other banks and have it sent here," the lion replied.

"But I don't have time for that…" Frisk whined.

"Something else you could do is set up a bank account with us," the lion offered while handing the check back to Frisk. "If you do that, we could give you a card and you could get money out at an ATM machine instead. We just need parental permission since you're under 18. Could you come back here with your parents?"

"My parents are in heaven. They can't come with me today."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you have a legal guardian we could speak to instead?"

"Yeah," Frisk said. "I have four of them. Can you talk to them on the phone?"

"I suppose," the lion replied. "That is usually not our protocol, but if you're in such a hurry, I could make some exceptions."

"Okay, just give me a minute," Frisk said as he took out his phone and started texting Sans to let him know what was happening.

Before he could finish the explanation, a crocodile woman came in through the doors carrying a drink carrier full of coffee.

"Alright, everybody!" she said cheerfully. "I'm back from my lunch break and I got everyone coffee, so come and get…OH MY, GOD! IT'S METTATON'S MISSING SON!"

Frisk felt his heart skip a beat as the other bank tellers on the other side of the counter began murmuring under their breath. He was frozen in place while he thought of what to say.

"Lucy, what are you talking about?" the lion asked.

"You mean, you haven't been watching the show?!" Lucy asked incredulously while skipping joyfully to the counter with the coffee. "This human boy is the one Mettaton adopted on his show today, but he ran away and now Mettaton has asked all his viewers to look for him, so they can win prizes! Oh, my God! I can't believe he's here! I can't believe we'll get to win prizes!"

"Uh," Frisk said searching for a decent lie. "That wasn't me! That was another kid."

"Don't be ridiculous," Lucy said placing the coffees on the counter and pulling her phone out of her purse. "You match the child from this screenshot perfectly."

Lucy flashed her phone revealing indeed a screenshot from the show and said, "See? Now, all we have to do is call Mettaton and win fabulous prizes!"

Frisk's heart dropped as he searched for something clever to say.

"Oh, dear," the lion said. "If that's the case, we should really contact him. We might as well if you want to set up that bank account."

"I change my mind," Frisk said stuffing his phone and his check into his pockets.

Without another word, Frisk bolted for the door and ran into the street before any of them could catch up with him.

He quickly ran into the side alley just as Lucy came out behind him yelling, "Human, get back here! I wanna win prizes from Mettaton!"

Unfortunately, as soon as she yelled that into the streets, every monster within earshot started yelling the same thing.

Frisk sighed deeply as he hid behind a dumpster again. Now, everyone in town was looking for him. This day could not get any worse.

Just then, the side door of a shop opened into the alley. It was another skeleton woman wearing jeans, a teal hoodie, and sneakers. Her hair was in a bun, and she had facial tattoos like Dr. Nova did. However, these tattoos were only black circles around her eye sockets and over her nose hole.

Frisk stood up and started backing up, but before he could get out of sight, she looked up and saw him. She didn't say anything, and neither did Frisk.

They only stared at each other for a moment of awkward silence before she said, "Do you want something, kid?"

"Uh, no," Frisk replied.

"Oh, was just making sure," the skeleton said as she continued walking past Frisk to throw her garbage in the dumpster.

As she walked past, Frisk noticed that she left the door to her building open, so he ran in when she wasn't looking.

Upon entering, Frisk discovered a backroom full of instruments of all kinds, except they were in pieces. Not broken pieces, but in unconnected pieces, like they were being assembled. At the corner of this room was a workbench with a table and on top of it was a violin.

Frisk could not resist walking over to the workbench and looking at the violin.

It was beautiful and shiny. It was probably newly made. It certainly looked like it anyway.

It reminded him of the violin his mother had. She always kept it cleaned and polished. She did the same with the piano. It was one of her many quirks.

That memory brought a smile to his face. Without another thought, Frisk moved his hand over the fine woodwork of the violin.

"You like it?" he heard a feminine voice behind him say.

Frisk quickly turned around to see the female skeleton from before looking over his shoulder and fumbled around for something to say.

"Don't worry, kiddo," she said. "I don't bite. The name's Euphemia. What's yours?"

"Frisk," Frisk replied simply.

"Nice to meet ya," Euphemia replied. "Do you like the violin?"

"Oh, yeah," Frisk replied excitedly. "I used to play with my mother all the time. Did you make all the instruments here yourself?"

"Every last one," she confirmed.

"Oh, my God," he replied. "That is so cool. Do you know how to play them?"

"Every last one. I test them all out before I sell them."

"That's awesome. You're officially one of the coolest people I've ever met."

Euphemia smiled and said, "You're sweet, kid. What can I do for ya? You're not exactly supposed to be back here."

"Oh, yeah," Frisk said searching for a decent lie. "I really like this violin. Can I buy it from you please?"

"Don't you want to test it out first?" Euphemia asked. "People usually don't buy instruments like this without testing them for quality first."

"Oh, okay," Frisk said. "May I play it then?"

"Of course, kid," Euphemia said handing the violin and its bow over to Frisk. "Just be careful. If you break it, you buy it."

Frisk held the instruments and started trembling with them in his hand. He could not believe what he was about to do. It had been years. Frisk wondered if he even really remembered how to play…

"You need help, Frisk?" Euphemia asked.

"No, I'm just trying to think of what to play."

"We have songbooks if you want me to get one for you."

"That would be great. Thanks."

"Alright," Euphemia said walking through another door to the front of the shop. "Don't go anywhere."

Frisk looked over his instrument in the silence. He was afraid, but he was also excited. Frisk closed his eyes and remembered the long hours of violin lessons with his mother. Under her tutoring, he learned and memorized many songs. Usually, kids struggled to learn from their parents, but with her, it was fun.

In a flash, a song came to Frisk's mind. He held the violin to his chin, adjusted his bow, and began to play.

It was an old song from a ballet created centuries ago. The ballet was about a noblewoman who went exploring in the woods and met an old king who fell in love with her, but she didn't fall in love with him. The music evoked the image of exploring peacefully in the woods and uncovering a new world.

But for Frisk, it brought back memories of his mother. As he played the song, he could see her. He could see her expressive movements, her dreamy expression, and her free spirit walking through the woods without a care in the world. During the song, Frisk could once again feel his mother's soul.

Euphemia entered returned with a songbook in her hand and said with a smile, "I guess you didn't need this book after all. How'd you like the violin?"

"I love it," Frisk replied. "May I buy it please?"

"If you can afford it," Euphemia said with a smile. "This one costs 3000G the price of the bow and case included. Do you have that much?"

"Yeah," Frisk said pulling the check out of his pocket. "But can you do me a favor?"

"What might that be?"

"Could you give me 47,000G in change?"

"What?"

Frisk showed her the check for 50,000G from Mettaton.

"I have the money, but I need this check to be cashed," Frisk pleaded. "Could you do that for me?"

"I don't have that much money in reserve, dear," Euphemia replied receiving a text message on her phone and reading it.

"Never mind, then," Frisk said placing the violin back on the table and walking away sadly. "Keep up the good work. I'll definitely come back when I have money someday."

Frisk headed out of the backroom of the shop and out through the alley door.

However, before he had even reached the street, Euphemia called his name again, "Frisk, wait!"

Frisk turned around to see her running out with a violin case in her hand.

"Here, Frisk," Euphemia said handing the violin case to him. "Take it."

"But I can't pay for it," Frisk protested trying to hand her back the case.

"You don't need to," Euphemia said taking back the violin case with a dark smirk that sent a shiver down Frisk's spine. "Mettaton already did."

"What?!" Frisk yelled backing away from her slowly.

Suddenly, familiar webs wrapped around Frisk's arms and legs.

"Hey there, dearie," the familiar feminine voice said. "A little far from home. Aren't you? Your daddy's worried sick."

Miss Muffet climbed down off the wall and walked in front of Frisk and Euphemia.

"Thanks for your help, Euphie!" Miss Muffet said. "You're really the best friend a girl can ask for! With the money I'll get from Mettaton, I can get a limo big enough for all the spiders to cross Snowdin!"

"No problem, Muffet, hun," Euphemia replied handing Miss Muffet the violin case. "I'm just glad he came into my shop and not someone else's."

"I can give you more money than Mettaton can!" Frisk pleaded desperately. "Please, just let me go!"

"Don't listen to him, Muffet," Euphie said. "All he has are checks. Make sure he and the instrument get home safely. Okay?"

"Got it, dearie," Muffet said before her friend walked away. "I'll call you later."

Muffet whistled and her group of spiders came out of nowhere, knocked Frisk onto his back, and started carrying him to the beach while Muffet walked beside him.

"Don't worry, dearie," Muffet said. "I'm gonna get you home safe and sound."

Frisk was helpless. All he could do is sniffle quietly in frustration. That didn't go unnoticed by Miss Muffet.

"What's the matter, dearie?" Miss Muffet asked in surprise. "You're going home to your rich and powerful father. You have nothing to worry about anymore. You have status down here now. You're set for life."

"I don't give a crap about being rich," Frisk muttered angrily.

"Dearie, I'm not talking about being rich," Miss Muffet said. "I'm talking about social standing. You don't have to worry about getting killed anymore."

Frisk looked at her dumbfounded.

"Dearie, haven't you noticed how monsters like to kill humans around here?" Miss Muffet said. "That's because down here humans are nothing but hunting game. You have something valuable that most of us want, and unless you get taken in by another party, you're fair game to anyone who wants you. Sure, people will be friendly to you, but they'll look the other way if someone attacks you outside the safe zone. You understand? Mettaton taking you in like this is really a blessing if you think about it."

Frisk silently pondered and realized she was right. He knew the truth all along, but it still hurt to hear. No wonder Sans was so cautious.

Frisk pondered these words as Miss Muffet and the spiders took him back to the beach.


	77. Chapter 77

Miss Muffet brought Frisk to the beach and stopped near the water.

"Here, we are, dearie," Miss Muffet said. "Now, to call your Daddy…"

"He is not my Dad," Frisk said still lying flat on his bed of spiders. "He never will be. He stole me from my family. Please, you have to let me go back to them."

"Maybe if you weren't so stingy with your money, human," Miss Muffet said dialing the number on her phone. "I mean, the spiders told me you ran through the Ruins and didn't even stop for our bake sale."

"I…I was upset then," Frisk said defensively as the spiders sat him up on the sand. "I also didn't have any money."

"Sure, you didn't, human," Miss Muffet said just before she pressed the call button.

Frisk suddenly remembered what worked before and said, "But at least, I never hurt a single spider."

The phone rang, but Miss Muffet paused and listened.

"I mean no harm to anyone in the Underground," Frisk pleaded. "I'm just a homeless orphan who has found a family. I just want to get back to them. Please!"

Miss Muffet paused in guilty contemplation, but unfortunately, Mettaton was speaking on the other end and saw it when Miss Muffet pressed the button to end the call.

"Let him go," Miss Muffet told the spiders. "He means no harm to us. Get back to your family, human."

Frisk smiled as the spiders untied him. But sadly, as soon as he stood up, he felt familiar metal arms grab him and hold him tightly.

"Mettaton?" Miss Muffet said in surprise.

"Thank goodness I got here when I did," Mettaton said. "You almost made a costly mistake. I do apologize for my son. He can be manipulative when he wants to be…"

"That's the pot calling the kettle black," Frisk interrupted.

"Hush, darling," Mettaton said to Frisk as he held him more tightly to restrain his movements. "Don't you think you're in enough trouble already?"

Mettaton got the check out of his side compartment, handed the check to Miss Muffet, and took the violin case out of her hands.

"Thanks again for the help, Miss Muffet dear," Mettaton said. "Get yourself a nice limo."

Before Miss Muffet could even reply, Mettaton created a trapdoor under his feet that brought him and Frisk to his dressing room.

When the trapdoor closed behind them, Mettaton placed Frisk on the couch and turned around to get something out of the fridge.

Frisk was frozen in fear. He could hardly move. Let alone breathe. Frisk knew what Mettaton had planned for him, and all he could do was pray for the courage to face the upcoming confrontation.

Frisk forced himself to breathe deeply as Mettaton turned around, handed Frisk a bottle of water, placed the violin case on the floor, and sat down next to him on the opposite end of the couch.

Mettaton still said nothing. The silence was unnerving and awkward. Frisk opened his water bottle and took a few gulps before Mettaton finally decided to start talking.

"I have to say, darling," Mettaton said without looking at him. "I had hoped today would go better. I had hoped we could be partners and work together as a family, but you keep running off, having such violent outbursts, and causing all these problems."

Mettaton sighed deeply, turned to Frisk, and said, "I honestly think something might be wrong with you…"

"Wrong with _me_?!" Frisk snapped while still refusing to look at Mettaton. "You're the one trying to take a kid from his adopted family!"

"That behavior is what I'm talking about, darling," Mettaton replied completely unfazed. "You keep having such violent behavior. I'm really worried about you. That's why I'm getting you some help."

Frisk finally turned around and asked, "What in the hell are you…?"

He froze mid-sentence. In his terror, Frisk couldn't bring himself to speak.

Out of nowhere, Mettaton was holding a child-sized straight-jacket in one hand and syringe filled with the same clear solution that Dr. Nova had in her possession in the other.

Mettaton smirked cruelly and said, "I don't want to do this, but I think your condition is bad enough to send you to the psychiatrists to receive intensive care a bit sooner than I thought. What do you think, darling?"

"You're insane!" Frisk yelled hopping off the couch and trying to be brave. "I'm not crazy, and you know that!"

"What I know, my dear Frisk, is that your behavior is getting more violent and more unpredictable, and as your father, I'm the only one who can do anything about it," Mettaton replied standing up and approaching Frisk until he was backed up against the vanity. "So please, sit still and let Daddy get you ready to go see the lovely psychiatrists for the rest of the afternoon."

"NO!" Frisk screamed running around Mettaton and heading for the door. "I WON'T LET YOU! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE AND LET ME GO BACK TO MY FAMILY!"

Unfortunately, Frisk felt the floor drop under him and he fell through a trapdoor into the chair in front of the vanity. Mettaton held him in place by his shoulder and used the other hand to hold the covered syringe dangerously close to Frisk's bare neck.

"Darling, I am your legal father," Mettaton said with a haughtier smirk that before. "I have to do what I think is best for you."

"I don't wanna go!" Frisk yelled in a panic with tears forming at the corners of his eyes. "Please don't make me! I'll do anything!"

At the last comment, Mettaton's demeanor appeared to change. He dropped the straight-jacket on the floor and put the syringe back into his side compartment. With one hand Mettaton cupped Frisk's face. With the other, he started wiping his tears away. Frisk tensed at the touch, but he couldn't move or stop shaking.

"Darling," Mettaton said with a calmer voice than before. "All I want you to do is stop trying to run away from me. That's all. If you do that, I promise you won't go to intensive psychotherapy today. Can you do that for me, dear? Hmmm?"

As more tears blinded his vision, Frisk closed his eyes, turned his head away, and reluctantly said, "Yes, I'll stop running away. Just please don't send me away to get brainwashed."

Mettaton smiled, picked Frisk up, sat down on the couch with him, and held him tightly while he stroked his back.

"Alright, darling, it's a deal," Mettaton said in a more upbeat tone than before. "I'll call the doctors and tell them you're not coming today while you go freshen yourself up in the bathroom for your big performance. Okay?"

Frisk nodded his head meekly as Mettaton finally let him hop off his lap. He walked quickly into the bathroom without turning around while Mettaton pulled out his phone to make his call.

As soon as Frisk got into the bathroom, he shut the door and locked it behind him. Frisk then fell on his knees and started hyperventilating while he texted updates to his family and prayed for a solution.


	78. Chapter 78

Frisk did everything he thought of to calm down. He relieved himself. He washed his face. He took off his sweater and his tank top to cool down. He even tried to pray and meditate. Nothing was working. Frisk still felt like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

Frisk stared at his phone and watched the comforting messages come in as he tried not to let the tears fall. Everyone said everything they could think of to comfort him.

"You'll be okay, Frisk," Alphys said. "We'll be there soon."

"Yeah," Papyrus said. "Stay determined."

"We won't let him send you away, Frisk," Sans said. "Just please don't give up."

"Besides, even if Mettaton takes you away, we'll rescue you," Undyne said.

Frisk knew they meant well, but he could not calm down. His thoughts were racing faster than he could comprehend them. The terror was overwhelming him. Frisk prayed and prayed, but he could not stop focus.

"I can't do this," Frisk finally typed while rocking back and forth. "I feel like I'm gonna die. I can't do this. I can't even meditate. My head won't let me."

Frisk couldn't take it anymore. He didn't even feel like wearing clothes. He tore off his shoes and socks so that his bare feet could feel the icy floor.

Out of habit, Frisk stacked his shoes and socks under his clothes neatly by the window.

He stared at the pile, then he stared at the window for a moment.

Frisk thought about opening that window and making his exit, but his thoughts were interrupted when Napstablook finally sent a text.

"Wait!" Napstablook said. "I have an idea. Frisk, go somewhere where Mettaton might not hear you. I'm going to call you."

Before Frisk could respond, the phone started vibrating. The number came up as Alphys' for some reason. He quickly grabbed a towel to lie down on, hopped into the tub, and shut the curtain.

Frisk answered the phone and whispered, "Napstablook, are you crazy? What if he hears me?"

"I'm sorry," Napstablook replied shyly. "I just thought that you would like to hear some music."

"What?"

"You said that you loved listening to my music because it reminded you of when you'd spend time with your dad. I was thinking maybe if you listened to music again now, then you could calm down like you did before. Uh, if you don't like the idea, that's fine. I can just hang up…"

"No," Frisk replied quickly. "Please play some music for me. I would love to hear it. It could help me meditate."

"Oh, okay," Napstablook said in his timid excitement. "Let me just play the music on my phone, so you can hear it."

"Okay," Frisk said quietly. "Just please don't be too loud."

"Okay," Napstablook said quietly. "Here, we go…"

Frisk turned the phone's volume as quietly as he possibly could while still hearing. Then, he spread out the towel, laid down, and placed the phone by his head.

The music was quiet, but Frisk could still hear it. The repeating mixed melody of Spookwave was familiar and calming. Focusing on it helped him breathe and relax enough to meditate and pray.

Gradually, the melody soothed Frisk so much that he fell into a deep meditative state where he was almost asleep. The bathroom was silent except for the music and for the thoughts he shared with only the Almighty. The silence pushed Frisk into a deeper place where he could fall asleep.

As Frisk slept, he relived a flashback.

Frisk was seven-years-old. It was a stormy day when his bus took him home from school. Frisk got off sullener and more silent than usual that day. He was angry and upset and was hoping to go to his room to blow off some steam without talking to anyone.

That day, Frisk had gotten in a fight with several classmates. They were teasing him for reading his homework and reading instead of playing with the other kids during indoor recess, but that wasn't what bothered him. They bullied him for that all the time, and he usually ignored them. But today, the bullies went too far. One of them said that Frisk's mother was a good-for-nothing drunk, so Frisk slammed him on the head with the book he was reading before they all ganged up on him while the teacher wasn't looking.

The front door was unlocked. That wasn't a surprise. His parents' flexible work schedule had always meant that they got off early enough so that Frisk wasn't left home alone for too long. That was especially true since his mother had gone to rehab and his father started coming home earlier.

Frisk opened the door and quietly pulled it shut behind him. He saw his Dad lying on the floor of the den with his headphones in. His eyes were shut, and he appeared to be sleeping.

Frisk tried taking the opportunity to head upstairs, but before he reached the first step, his Dad called for him.

"Frisk," his Dad, Franc, said. "Your principal called me today. Come here and let me see how bad it is."

Frisk stubbornly froze in place, but his Dad pushed, "Now."

Frisk sighed, placed his backpack next to the stairs, and walked over to the den where his father was now sitting up on the couch puffing on his e-cig. Once he got into the light, he saw the shiner his classmates had left under his left eye.

"Dear God," Franc said gripping his pen more tightly. "Does it still hurt?"

Frisk looked down at the ground and shook his head.

"You know I can tell when you're lying to me, right?" Franc replied as he stood up. "Come to the kitchen with me and let me get you some ice."

Frisk looked up at the gentle smile on his face and nodded before he followed behind him.

When they got to the kitchen, Franc sat Frisk down on the counter while he got him a bag of ice.

Once Franc finally handed Frisk his bag of ice, he asked, "Do you wanna talk about it? You know we need to."

As the storm raged outside, Frisk felt the tears escaping from his eyes. All the pent-up emotions he hid from the world that day flooded out.

"I hate those kids. I hate all of them. Why can't they just leave us alone, Dad?" Frisk barely managed to get out before he started sobbing.

Franc wrapped his arms around Frisk in a hug to show he understood. Then, he picked him up and carried him into the den.

Frisk knew what was about to happen.

His Dad sat down. Frisk crawled out of his lap and sat next to him. His Dad pulled his mp3 player out of the pocket of his hoodie and unwrapped the headphones. He handed an earbud to Frisk and then stuck an earbud in his own ear. They laid down next to each while Frisk held the ice pack on his face.

Then his Dad selected a song and they laid down and listened until their hearts were comforted and calmed.

Franc held onto Frisk's hand and smiled sadly. Frisk let the ice pack cool down the swelling on his black eye and breathed deeply as he allowed the music to calm his soul.

In the present, a tear rolled down Frisk's cheek and his lips curled into a smile as he slept.


	79. Chapter 79

Back in the present, Mettaton yelled, "Frisk, dear! It's time to go! Frisk?!"

The robot thought the silence was suspicious, so he got off the couch and approached the door.

"Frisk, darling, are you alright in there?" Mettaton asked as he knocked on the door. "You aren't trying to hide from me. Are you? You know you can't hide from Daddy."

When Mettaton didn't hear a response, he twisted open the handle and walked in. Mettaton immediately saw the shoes and shirts piled next to the window. He then looked around and pulled open the bathroom curtain to find Frisk sound asleep in the bathtub with his phone sitting quietly next to his head.

Mettaton sighed, pulled out his phone, and said, "I should have known. You are anemic after all. Just let me call your babysitter."

Mettaton called Burgerpants and told him what was going on. He then teleported there as quickly as he could.

When Burgerpants arrived, Mettaton showed him the sleeping human child lying in the bathtub.

"Adorable, isn't he?" Mettaton said wistfully as he took a picture of Frisk to put on social media.

"Yeah…" Burgerpants said. "So, you want me to take him to your house?"

"No, not yet," Mettaton said while posting the picture. "I want that to be a surprise for him later. I know he'll just love it when I finally show him his room. Taking him there now would ruin it. I want you to watch Frisk and bring him to me once he wakes up."

"So, you want me to just leave him there?"

"You're right. He might get cold."

Mettaton walked out of the room for a moment.

During that time, Burgerpants whispered, "Don't worry, kid. I'll get you out of here somehow. I swear."

"Here, we go," Mettaton said walking back in and covering the sleeping human in the tub with the straitjacket he was threatening him with earlier. "That should keep you from getting too cold. Sleep well, darling."

"Wait, is that a straitjacket?" Burgerpants asked fearfully. "Boss, why do you have a…?"

"Oh, that thing," Mettaton said gesturing at it nonchalantly. "It's just something I borrowed from the local mental health ward to persuade him to behave. He knows now that if he tries to run away again he's going to be sent away to spend what remains of the afternoon with his psychotherapists."

"But I thought getting psychiatric help was supposed to be a good thing…"

"Oh, it is. Frisk would be getting help for all his issues. He just sees it as a bad thing, so I thought I could use it to persuade him to behave until I take him home. And now, he has stopped trying to run away. It's a wonder what a little tough love can do."

Burgerpants stared at Frisk, the bracelet around his wrist, and the straitjacket Mettaton was thoughtlessly using as a blanket. He couldn't suppress a shudder.

"Anyways, Burgie, I'd better go," Mettaton said turning away and creating another trapdoor with his feet. "Remember, when he wakes up, bring him straight to me. If Frisk decides he doesn't want to cooperate, put him in that straitjacket and drop him off at the mental ward over at the hospital. They'll know what to do. Also, be sure he gets plenty of water. Humans die if they get too dehydrated. Understood?"

"Yes, Mettaton," Burgerpants replied. "I understand."

"Splendid, you're really earning your bonus, Burgie!" Mettaton said happily before he finally jumped into the trapdoor.

Once the trapdoor dissolved, Burgerpants sat by the bathtub and pondered until he came up with a plan.

When Burgerpants had that plan, he knelt by the bathtub, teleported the straitjacket away so Frisk wouldn't see it, and shook the sleeping child.

"Frisk, wake up," Burgerpants said quietly. "I need to get you out of here. Please, wake up."

Frisk moaned quietly as his weary eyes opened and said, "Burgerpants? What are you doing here?"

"Long story short," Burgerpants said grabbing his clothes from next to the window and dropping them on Frisk's lap as he stood up. "You fell asleep. Mettaton called me to babysit while he got the show going. Now, we're here, and I have to get you out of here."

"How?" Frisk asked as he pulled on his tank top. "If I go anywhere, Mettaton can find me with this stupid bracelet..."

"Not if he's too distracted to look for you," Burgerpants interrupted.

"What do you mean?" Frisk asked.

"Just listen…" Burgerpants said before revealing his plan to Frisk.


	80. Chapter 80

Burgerpants scrolled through his phone while waiting for Frisk to put his clothes back on.

Before he put on his sweater, Frisk said, "I'm surprised you're not asking about them."

"About what?" Burgerpants asked without looking up from his phone.

"You know," Frisk said nervously. "The scars…"

Burgerpants looked up from his phone, smiled, and said, "I don't see why it should be any of my business if you don't want to talk about it."

Burgerpants looked back down at his phone.

That acceptance gave Frisk hope.

He smiled as he pulled on his sweater and said, "I'm ready."

Burgerpants shoved his phone in his pocket and said, "Alright, let's go. Are ya ready?"

"I think so," Frisk said taking his hand. "I'm still praying."

"Good," Burgerpants said picking up the violin case that was sitting by his feet. "We're going to need it."

Burgerpants teleported himself and Frisk outside the fake newsroom where Mettaton was going to host the next challenge.

"Okay, we're here," Burgerpants said letting go of Frisk's hand without Frisk letting go of his. "I hope this works."

Burgerpants tried to walk onto the set, but Frisk wouldn't budge.

"Burgerpants?" Frisk said when their eyes finally met. "I need you to promise me something. If this doesn't work, Mettaton's could send me to the mental health ward for sure, so if anything does go wrong, I need you to promise you won't abandon me. Everyone else is scattered right now, so you're all I got. If you leave me, I'm done for."

Burgerpants was silent for a moment as he turned and looked over the set. The crew was running around setting up cameras, lights, and everything else they needed for the upcoming scene. Mettaton was straightening up his outfit and styling his hair from behind the desk. Burgerpants looked at that world and thought about how badly he wanted to be a part of it.

"Burgerpants?" Frisk asked. "Are you…?"

"Of course, kid," Burgerpants nervously replied. "I've got your back. You don't need to worry about anything."

"Darling, you're awake! How wonderful!" Mettaton said taking the violin case in one hand and scooping Frisk up in the other. "Thank you so much for helping me out, Burgie!"

"It was no problem, boss," Burgerpants said. "He woke up pretty quickly."

"I'll say," Mettaton said turning away to walk back on set. "You can have the rest of the day off, Burgie. I can take care of things from here."

"Actually, Mettaton," Burgerpants began nervously. "Could I stay and watch the show? I mean, you might need help watching Frisk, and I need the extra money."

"Thanks for the offer, Burgie, but Frisk and I have come to an understanding," Mettaton said glancing at the child in his arms. "I think he's going to behave from now on. Enjoy your night off."

Mettaton turned around to walk away, but Frisk came up with a plan to change Mettaton's mind.

"Like that's gonna happen," Frisk muttered loudly enough for the two to hear him before defiantly hopping out of Mettaton's arm, grabbing his violin case, and trying to walk past them.

"What was that, darling?" Mettaton asked placing his hand on Frisk's shoulder.

"None of your damn business," Frisk said slapping his hand away with his free hand.

"Frisk dear," Mettaton said kneeling by his young charge. "We talked about this. You and I both know what's going to happen if you disobey your daddy."

"Only if I try to run away, that doesn't mean I have to be behaved like your stupid pet," Frisk said right in Mettaton's face before he defiantly walked past him and entered the set. "Besides, you're not my Dad, so piss off."

Mettaton scowled and said, "It looks like I'll need your help after all, Burgie."

"What?" Frisk said feigning shock as well as he could. "But I don't want a babysitter."

"That's tough, darling," Mettaton said standing up in annoyance. "I refuse to tolerate your tantrums anymore and I don't have time to prepare you to see the doctors, so you have two choices. Either you stay here and listen to Burgie, or he takes you to see those lovely doctors instead. What will it be?"

"Fine," Frisk said refusing to look at Mettaton so he wouldn't see that he actually wasn't upset. "I'll behave. Just leave me alone…Hey!"

Burgerpants picked Frisk up telekinetically and said, "You do not have an attitude with my boss, human! Simmer down, or I'll clean your clocks. You hear me?"

It was all Frisk could do not to smile at Burgerpants' good acting abilities.

"Okay," Frisk responded as meekly as possible. "I'll be good. I'm sorry."

Burgerpants put Frisk on the ground, and he started scratching his arms like he was afraid. Mettaton was eating it right up.

The latter smiled and said, "Good work, Burgie! I never knew you would be such a fantastic babysitter."

"Well, I do have younger siblings," Burgerpants bragged while Frisk pretended to sulk. "Where do you want me and Frisk to be during the show?"

"Oh, you two can sit in those conveniently-placed chairs next to the camera," Mettaton said gesturing over to the blue director's chairs by one of the video cameras before turning to walk away. "The snack table is close by, too. Make sure he at least gets water. I must go finish getting ready now. See you soon, gentlebeauties."

Mettaton walked away. Burgerpants and Frisk smiled at each other as they walked on the set.

"That was great, Frisk," Burgerpants said. "I can't believe we pulled that off. I was worried there for a second. Where did you get so good at acting?"

"I have a lot of experience when it comes to lying to adults," Frisk replied vaguely. "But you were good, too. You should be in the movies…"

"That's the goal, kid," Burgerpants said as the two of them finally reached the blue director's chairs by the camera. "Alright, I'm gonna get some snacks before the show. You sit here and act depressed. Got it?"

Burgerpants walked over to the snack table to get himself and Frisk some food.

Frisk climbed on the chair and took in his surroundings. In every run he got this far in, he would only see a large monitor appear with Mettaton as a news anchor and see the stage of bombs come out of nowhere.

Frisk rarely thought of what happened behind the scenes or all the production that must have gone into it. He was usually too focused on surviving the stage. But now that he was finally given a chance to look behind the scenes, Frisk had to admit that it was impressive.

Very quickly, Burgerpants teleported back with two hovering water bottles, two hovering moist towelette packages, and two hovering plates of hors d'oeuvres, including berries, a donut, a deviled egg, and so forth.

"Here, you go, partner," Burgerpants said telekinetically handing the plate and water bottle to Frisk.

"Thanks," Frisk said happily taking the refreshments as Burgerpants got in his chair.

Frisk didn't eat for a second as he continued taking in his environment.

"Are you nervous, Frisk?" Burgerpants asked.

"A little bit," Frisk replied. "I'm still praying."

"Good," Burgerpants said with a smile. "We'll need it, but don't worry too much. Okay? For now, focus on building up your strength. You'll need it. I, for one, am kinda excited…"

"Frisk, what are you doing? Are your hands even clean?" Mettaton interrupted as Frisk was about to drop a berry in his mouth.

"I don't know," Frisk grumbled before Mettaton snatched the berry and plate out of Frisk's hands and put the items in Burgerpants' lap. "Hey! What are you doing?"

Mettaton got out a sanitary wipe, grabbed Frisk's arm, and started wiping down Frisk hands.

"I'm making sure your hands are clean," Mettaton fussed. "I can't have you getting sick on me."

"My hands are fine," Frisk complained pulling one hand away before Mettaton started wiping the other. "Leave me alone. I washed my hands earlier."

"I don't know how long ago that was, Frisk," Mettaton replied as he finished wiping down that hand as well. "Now, let me get those forearms."

"What?! No!" Frisk said incredulously crossing his arms tightly against his chest. "I'm not a baby. You don't have to wash me in front of everybody!"

"Darling? What did I say about you misbehaving?"

"I'm not misbehaving. You're being embarrassing…"

"Mettaton," Inferno interrupted. "You're needed on-stage."

"Coming," Mettaton said before turning back to Frisk and dropping the sanitary wipe on his lap. "You win, darling. You can wipe yourself down. Enjoy the show."

Frisk angrily threw the sanitary wipe on the floor and glared back at Mettaton until he walked away.

When he was out of hearing range, Burgerpants handed Frisk back his plate of food and said, "I can't wait to see the look on his face when he finds out what we've done. You'll see, Frisk. It'll make it all worth it."

Frisk felt the adrenaline pumping as he took back his plate and ate the berry he was eating before he was interrupted. Burgerpants' words filled him with determination as he felt his HP rise by another point.

"You know," Frisk replied. "All of a sudden, I don't feel nervous anymore."


	81. Chapter 81

Undyne and Papyrus finally made into their next challenge. Like the rest of their group chat, they already knew what Frisk was doing and were silently praying for his success.

The room was pitch black, so despite knowing what was coming neither of them knew exactly where they were going. Nonetheless, Papyrus was bouncing off the walls.

"Oh, Undyne," Papyrus said bouncing in his gait and struggling to be quiet. "I can't wait. We're going to get Frisk back!"

"We might get Frisk back," Undyne corrected. "I just hope that Burgerpants' plan works. I mean, if it were me, I wouldn't worry, but him…"

"Oh, Undyne, why are you being so pessimistic?" Papyrus chided. "I'm sure they'll do just fine. Then, we'll have Frisk back!"

"Pipe down, Papyrus," Undyne whispered. "Do you want Almighty King Jackass 2.0 to hear ya?"

As if on cue, the room lit up and Mettaton's large jumbotron screen pulled up out of nowhere revealing Mettaton EX in his red news anchor suit. The lights then filled the room revealing the obstacle course of inactivated bombs that Frisk had to defuse previously.

Undyne and Papyrus watched the screen in anticipation while Mettaton smirked back.

Meanwhile, Frisk had finished eating his food and had returned to the table to retrieve two more water bottles. They both could see the action on the obstacle course from Mettaton's monitor behind him. Everyone else was watching the show or carrying out their own work, so Frisk and Burgerpants could work without interference.

"Why're you carrying two more water bottles?" Burgerpants asked quietly as Frisk returned to the chair.

"They're for Undyne and Papyrus," Frisk replied quietly trying to hold onto them, his water bottle, and the violin case.

"Good thinking, but allow me," Burgerpants said as he telekinetically moved the water bottles into the front pocket of his green hoodie. "You need your hands, kid. Speaking of which, show me your left hand."

Frisk smiled as Burgerpants telekinetically opened the device and let it fall on the ground.

"There's step one," Burgerpants said. "Are you ready for step two, Frisk?"

Frisk nodded his head eagerly as he followed Burgerpants to their next destination.

"OHHH YESSS!" Mettaton said in the deepest voice possible. "Good evening, beauties and gentlebeauties! This is Mettaton, reporting live from MTT News! An interesting situation has arisen in Eastern Hotland! Fortunately, our correspondents are out there, reporting live! For your next challenge, please find something newsworthy to report…"

"I have something newsworthy," Undyne interrupted. "I have just the headline, too. How about 'Mettaton is dirty, lying, abusive, mediocre attention whore who stole a child from his family?!'"

"Yeah," Papyrus agreed trying to sound intimidating. "'And who's really, really mean!'"

"I'm talking about in the field, Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton," Mettaton responded without missing a beat. "Now, go along and find something newsworthy to report on for our 2,000 audience members or I might just have to disqualify you for using inappropriate language on a family show."

Undyne rolled her eye as she and Papyrus looked over the items that Frisk had seen so many times before. They knew what his response would be no matter what they chose and how the items would eventually become bombs. Regardless, they had to stall and play dumb until Frisk and Burgerpants could make their move.

"Oh, my God!" Papyrus exclaimed overdramatically as he approached one of the items. "It's a basketball!"

"Basketball's a blast," Mettaton began. "Isn't it, dar-What are you doing?!"

Papyrus had picked the basketball and passed it to Undyne much to Mettaton's chagrin.

"Check it out, Undyne!" Papyrus exclaimed. "It's a basketball. I think we're supposed to give a critique on how good this basketball is. What do you think?"

Quickly catching onto his cue, Undyne replied with a sly smirk, "You know, Papyrus. I think you're right. Would you like to have a game to try it out?"

"Nothing would make me happier, dear!" Papyrus responded getting in a defensive position. "Let's play!"

"My dear contestants, that basketball is not meant to be played with," Mettaton protested. "It's an MTT-brand fashion basketball! It's for wearing, not playing! You could damage the paint!"

"What kind of basketball can't be played with?" Undyne asked as she got into an offensive position.

"This one can't!" Mettaton protested.

Unfortunately for him, his pleas fell on apathetic ears. Undyne tried dribbling the basketball bomb, but, due to its weight, it simply fell on the ground.

Her face twisted in false confusion as she looked back at the screen and asked, "What the heck kind of basketball is this?! It can't even bounce!"

"As I've been trying to tell you, Mrs. Skeleton, that basketball is…" Mettaton said managing to maintain his composure before Papyrus interrupted.

"Oh, I know!" Papyrus exclaimed. "Maybe it's one of those balls you work out with at the gym."

"Oh, like a medicine ball?" Undyne asked.

"Yeah, let's try working out with it."

"Great idea, Papyrus! You and I will take turns squatting with it. You got it?"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

Undyne then picked up the basketball bomb and started her squatting reps with it while Papyrus waited eagerly for his turn.

Mettaton facepalmed before he began pleading with them to stop again.

Meanwhile, Burgerpants and Frisk teleported over to the large production booth where the producers were monitoring the show. They were all so fixated on their monitors and managing the sound and lighting that none of them even noticed the pair arrive. It was perfect.

Burgerpants smiled at Frisk and said, "Are you ready for this, Frisk?"

"I think so," Frisk said. "Are you ready?"

"Hell, yeah," Burgerpants replied. "I've been dreaming about this ever since I got this damn job."

"I've been dreaming about this since the first time I saw Mettaton crash through Alphys' wall," Frisk said.

Burgerpants gave Frisk a strange look as the latter realized what he just said.

"Uh," Frisk said searching for a good reply. "It's a really long story."

"I believe it," Burgerpants said. "Anyways, let's get this show going. Now, remember. Just stay close to me in case anything goes wrong."

"And don't forget to give me the water bottles when we get there," Frisk added.

"Got it," Burgerpants said as his lips spread into a twisted smile. "Watch this."

Burgerpants raised his free hand and waved it over the booth sending a telekinetic shockwave through the whole thing. The soundboards, the monitors, the lighting equipment, and everything else short-circuit and shut down as the production staff scrambled to figure out what was happening.

Frisk and Burgerpants smirked at each other as the chaos spread throughout the set. The plan was working perfectly.

"Now for step three," Burgerpants said quietly before he sent another telekinetic shockwave through the lighting system of the set itself.

The room went dark. In that outdoor cavern, no one could see anything.

"What the hell is going on?!" Mettaton yelled.

Burgerpants and Frisk couldn't suppress a chuckle, but unfortunately, they couldn't stick around to enjoy it.

"Step four," Burgerpants said quietly. "Say goodbye to your kidnapper, Frisk."

"No way, that would imply that I regret leaving him," Frisk replied sarcastically.

Burgerpants laughed quietly and said, "You're funny, kid. Keep it up. It'll get you through a lot of shit in your life."

Frisk smiled in the dark as Burgerpants grabbed his hand and teleported them away. They reappeared right where they needed to, right where they could hear Papyrus and Undyne grunting and squatting.

Frisk could barely contain his excitement. He ran straight into the direction of the sound.

"Kid, slow down!" Burgerpants yelled as he ran behind him. "There are no fences on this thing. You could fall into the abyss!"

"Who's there?" Undyne asked as she finally stood up and dropped the deactivated basketball bomb on the ground.

"Frisk?" Papyrus asked excitedly standing in place. "Frisk, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me! We made it!" Frisk yelled before he ran into Papyrus' leg in the dark. "Owww!"

"FRISK!" Papyrus yelled happily as he scooped up Frisk in the dark and held him in a hug. "Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! You're back! I've missed you!"

"I've missed you, too," Frisk said resting his head on Papyrus' shoulder and wrapping his free arm around his neck.

"Make room for me, punks!" Undyne said awkwardly hugging Frisk from behind. "I can't believe you made it! I was so worried…"

"Hey," Burgerpants interrupted nervously as he finally caught up. "I hate to mess up your family reunion, but we have to keep moving. I don't know how long my sabotage will hold them up, and I don't want to be here if / when Mettaton comes down here with reinforcements…"

No one responded. They were all too wrapped up in their emotions to.

"Uh, Frisk?" Burgerpants prodded.

"I know," Frisk replied through tears as Papyrus stroked his hair and Undyne took the violin case out of Frisk's hand and set it on the ground, so she could cuddle him more easily. "Just give us a moment please."


	82. Chapter 82

Author's Note: I have a P-a-t-r-e-o-n now. For some reason, this website won't let me spell out the word. Think of it as a tip jar you can fill if you feel like. If you want to fill it, it's under the name InGodzHandz. Now, for some more serious business.

Happy Thanksgiving, guys! Pray for me. I'm really depressed. My family is worried about me because of my unemployment/underemployment situation that has been my life for over a year. I overheard my parents lamenting about it to my aunt. I'm so sick of being seen as the mentally disabled child who can't do anything who must be worried about more than my sisters just because I am the socially awkward and anxious woman with ADHD. It honestly makes me want to end my own life sometimes.

I have no idea what God is doing anymore. I feel like he has abandoned me with no guidance and I feel like a fool for trusting in him instead of just doing whatever my family wanted. I'm so damn sick of not knowing what to do. Please pray for me. I honestly want to end my life just to make life easier on my family. But I won't do it because I don't want to upset God and I want to be here for my friends and my fans online and off. You're legitimately the main reason I keep going, guys. I don't care what my family thinks anymore. I have another one. I have to keep believing God will give me something. He has to or my life will no longer be worth living. Just keep me in your prayers. Please. I don't know how much longer I can go on like this.

Don't ask me why the font is different. I have no idea.

Author's Note Done.

When the trio ceased hugging, Burgerpants gave them all their water bottles and allowed them to drink while he thought through his next moves and kicked himself for not thinking ahead better.

"Hope you enjoy the water," Burgerpants said. "I would have brought you food if I thought about it…"

"Don't worry about it," Undyne said tossing the empty water bottle aside. "You've already done more than enough."

"And unfortunately, I've exhausted our resources," Burgerpants said sadly.

"What?" Undyne asked incredulously.

"What are you talking about?" Papyrus yelled cheerily while he also threw aside his empty water bottle. "You can teleport us back to Snowdin! Nyeh heh heh!"

"He can't do that, Papyrus," Frisk said finally tossing aside his empty water bottle as well.

"Why not?" Papyrus asked innocently.

"Because I ain't powerful enough," Burgerpants sadly replied. "My teleportation range is very limited. I can't go anywhere above a few miles and Snowdin is much further than that. The closest I can get ya is to the studio, and I doubt you want to go back there considering how much he has beefed up security."

"Do you mean to tell me that you don't have any more plans?" Undyne asked angrily.

"Undyne, we need to stay calm," Papyrus said.

"Yeah," Frisk said. "Burgerpants has a plan. Right, Burgerpants?"

"Yes, I have a plan," Burgerpants said defensively. "You're going to keep going through the darkness and I'm going to find River and keep destroying the studio's equipment so Mettaton can't find you."

"That's the next step of our plan?" Frisk protested. "Burgerpants, you can't do that. That's too dangerous!"

"Yeah, what if you get caught?" Papyrus asked nervously.

"I'll be careful," Burgerpants assured them. "Look, I know this part of the plan sucks big time, but I literally could not come up with anything better. If Mettaton gets me, he'll just throw me out like he did to River, so I shouldn't have much to worry about."

"You can't be serious," Frisk begged. "Don't do this."

"Look, I either help you this way or you can wander into the heavily-lit obstacle course ahead of me and get caught," Burgerpants replied sarcastically. "Which sounds preferable?"

Frisk sighed and conceded, "Fine."

"Are you sure you can do this?" Undyne asked.

"Yes," Burgerpants said as confidently as he could muster. "You'll know it's safe to keep going when the lights are out. In the meantime, you keep going and stay out of the light as much as possible. I'll keep in touch with you on the phone. If I don't respond for a while and the lights are on, you'll know I've been caught or that something has happened. I really wish I had a better plan than this. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Papyrus said encouragingly. "I'm sure you'll be just fine."

"Thanks for everything, Burgerpants," Frisk said as Burgerpants turned to leave. "I owe you one."

"No problem, kid," Burgerpants replied. "I hope this makes up for earlier."

"Don't worry. It totally does."

"Good. Keep me in those prayers of yours."

As soon as Burgerpants said that, they heard him teleport away.

"Now, we can advance," Papyrus said taking Frisk's hand and his violin case and running ahead before the latter had the time to protest.

"Papyrus, wait!" Undyne said. "We don't know where we're going in the dark. You might run over the edge!"

"Oh, yeah," Papyrus said stopping cold in his tracks so quickly that Frisk almost tripped over his feet. "That would be really bad."

Undyne sighed and said, "We should have asked Burgerpants to teleport us out of the obstacle course. Now, we have to go slowly so we don't die."

"No, we don't," Frisk said having quickly come up with an idea. "You have me. Remember? I've been through this obstacle course dozens of times. I can show you the way out of here."

Papyrus lifted Frisk into his arms, threw him up in the air, caught him, and said, "Oh, how I've missed your schemes!"

"I don't know about this," Undyne said in hesitation.

"Why not?" asked Papyrus as he set Frisk on the ground. "Frisk is right. He's been through this obstacle course a lot of times before. He can lead us out of here no problem."

"Papyrus, it's dark," Undyne replied. "Even if Frisk knows the way out, how is he supposed to find it?"

Frisk thought for a moment before he came up with another idea.

"The bombs," Frisk said. "If I can find where those are, I can figure out where on the map we are and find the exit."

"That could work," Papyrus said happily.

"I'm still not sure about this," Undyne said more seriously than before.

"Why not?" Frisk asked in annoyance.

"Yeah, Undyne," Papyrus replied. "What's the problem? Frisk has a good plan. What is there to worry about?"

"He could still be snatched by the Metal Freakazoid without us knowing," Undyne protested.

"I know," Frisk said excitedly. "I'll just play my violin, so you can hear me…"

"Or, we could just use our phones to light the way," Undyne said turning on the flashlight on her phone. "That way, we can see everything."

"Good thinking," Papyrus replied doing the same thing. "Don't know why we didn't come up with that earlier. Come on, Frisk."

Frisk sulked and whined, "But my idea is more artistic and beautiful and stuff…"

"And less practical," Undyne retorted as she walked past them. "Come on, Frisk."

Frisk continued sulking in disappointment, so Papyrus lifted him onto his shoulders and said, "It's okay, Frisk. Your idea was still cool. Say, why don't you play the violin for us while we find our way out of here? Mettaton can't hear us anyway. I can call Sans, so he can hear it, too."

"Okay," Frisk conceded as Papyrus opened the case he was carrying and handed him his violin and his bow.


	83. Chapter 83

Author's Note: Btw, thanks for your encouragement. I'm feeling much better. I have decided to live in peace with where God wants me to be in my life. He'll clear me of my disgrace in his own time, but it's up to me to extend his peace to others.

Frisk focused his mind while holding his bow to his violin as he did before, but he found no music was coming out. He lowered his instrument and shut his eyes to focus better as Papyrus and Undyne made their way out of the maze.

"Hey, punk!" Undyne yelled noticing Frisk slumping from his perch on top of Papyrus' shoulders. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Papyrus said. "I thought you were going to play us a song."

"I want to," Frisk said sadly. "But I can't remember a single song. I don't get it. I remembered a song my mother taught me when I was at the instrument shop. Why on earth can't I remember anything now?"

"Have you tried using your determination?" Undyne suggested.

"That's just it," Frisk replied. "I know my determination had something to do with me remembering that piece before, but I don't know how I got it to work. I can never remember that either."

"Well, that's okay," Papyrus said comfortingly. "Maybe you'll remember later…"

"No way," Undyne interrupted. "That's not giving up I hear. Is it, punk?"

"Well," Frisk stammered.

"What did I say earlier about dealing with your weaknesses, Frisk?" Undyne interrupted again. "You have to face them head on until they're no longer scary. Now, punk, you're gonna sit up there until you remember what you did last time to get your determination to work! You got it, mister?!"

"Yes, ma'am," Frisk replied with a smile. "Okay, what did I do last time? Hey! I remember. I was thinking about my mother and remembering all the good times I had with her and somehow that made me remember a song she taught me."

"Awww!" Papyrus gushed. "That's so sweet. You must have been so happy."

"I was," Frisk said with a bigger smile. "Ever since I've been getting better, my memories have been getting stronger and the happier I get the more clearly I can remember certain things. I remembered that short piece when I played Undyne's piano and earlier I remembered another song my mother taught me."

"I think you're onto something, punk," Undyne said.

"What do you mean?" Papyrus asked.

"Let Frisk figure it out for himself," Undyne replied. "What do all those incidents have in common, Frisk?"

Frisk sat down and thought for a minute before he could realize what all those incidents had in common. Every time he sat down to play, Frisk remembered his mother. Whenever he remembered his mother, Frisk felt truly happy. Whenever Frisk felt truly happy, he could play. That could only mean one thing…

"My emotions," Frisk said in realization. "My memories are connected to my emotions! That's how I can use determination to access my memories! It's like my Dad said. Determination doesn't work unless I put my heart in it. That's why I can only play when I'm really feeling it."

"Oh," Papyrus said. "That actually makes a lot of sense."

"Yeah," Undyne said. "And because you have magic blood that flows through your brain and carries memories within it."

"That, too," Papyrus replied.

"Now, punk," Undyne said. "I know using your magic ain't easy. I had to work like hell to control mine…"

"Really?" Papyrus interrupted. "I thought you were always a badass."

"Nope," Undyne replied. "As I've told you, it takes work to be this awesome. Anyways…Frisk, accessing your memories with determination sounds extremely useful, and now that we've figured out how to do it, I want you to test it out. Use your determination to play a song, but not just any song, try to summon the longest song you know…"

"Undyne, isn't that a bit much?" Papyrus protested.

"Of course not!" Undyne retorted. "When it comes to using your talents, you need to push yourself as hard as you can and then push harder. That is how you become a badass, real Papyrus."

"Oooh," Papyrus muttered in admiration. "You're so cool Undyne."

"I know," Undyne replied proudly. "Now, Frisk, are you ready to make yourself a badass?"

"Yes," Frisk said quietly with a smile.

"What kind of reply is that, punk?!" Undyne yelled.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" Frisk yelled.

"That's better," Undyne said. "Now, focus."

Frisk closed his eyes and used his newfound determination to sort through the happy memories of himself with his mother. To his surprise, memories started returning to him in waves. Every lesson Frisk had with his mother, every song she taught him, all the time they spent playing together flooded his mind with their images. It was so overwhelming that Frisk opened his and found himself gasping for air.

"Frisk?" Papyrus asked in concern while stopping in his tracks. "Frisk, are you okay?"

"Oh, God," Frisk said happily. "I can remember. I remember it all now. You guys were right. The memories were always there. I just couldn't access them, but now, I see all of them."

"That's great, punk," Undyne said. "Did you find a song?"

"Uh, not yet," Frisk said. "I'm sorry. I was so overwhelmed by all the memories…"

"That's okay, Frisk," Undyne interrupted in a tone that was unusually calm for her as she looked back at him. "I get it. Your power is overwhelming and amazing, but you need to bend it to your will. You can't let anything scare you. Remember? Now, dive into those memories and pull out a song, preferably a long one. Okay?"

"Ooh, and make it one about skeletons," Papyrus said happily.

His words instantly brought a memory to Frisk's mind of a song that was just perfect.

"I've got one," Frisk said excitedly. "It's called 'Danse Macabre.' Have you heard of it?"

"No, but it has the 'macabre' in it," Undyne said happily. "I'm pretty sure I'll like it."

"No," Papyrus said. "What's it about? Is it about skeletons?"

"Oh, yeah," Frisk explained excitedly. "It's a song that skeletons used to play every Halloween night on the surface."

"What?"

"Call Sans. I want to explain it to him, too."

Papyrus called Sans and said, "Hey, Sans! Yeah, everything is fine, but Frisk wanted to talk about a song he wanted to play on the violin. He remembered because he used his determination. Listen."

Before Sans could ask any questions on his end, Papyrus put him on speaker and Frisk started explaining, "Before humans and monsters went to war, skeletons would host a large festival every year on Halloween night. Humans and other monsters came along too, and the festival would last until morning on the next day. In the evening, there would be a feast where everyone at all they wanted. Then, at the stroke of midnight, the best skeleton violinist would take his place on a podium above the crowd and summon everyone to dance…"

Frisk picked at his violin 12 times. It sounded like the gong of a clock. The noise stirred memories in Papyrus and in Sans who sat awestruck at the other end of the line.

"The other accompanying violins would come over to support him, but he or she would always be the one they followed," Frisk said moving his bow over the strings and strumming a low tone before swinging his legs over Papyrus' head and sliding down off his back. "Then, everyone would start to dance."

"Stay between us," Undyne chided as Frisk's bow played its first dramatic chords.

Frisk didn't reply, and neither did Papyrus as the music began playing more rapidly out of Frisk's violin. With his rushing memories, his fingers moved steadily and more energetically over the piece he and his mother worked so hard on.

The boy, the skeletons, and Undyne quickly became transfixed by the macabre music that began to grow and swell more and more loudly.

"I've heard this song before," Papyrus said.

"I have, too," Sans said in realization. "Dad used to play this. He used to play for us on Halloween. Do you remember that, Pap? He said it was part of some kind of traditional festival."

"I remember that!" Papyrus exclaimed. "I remember that, too."

Frisk smiled as he began playing the vibrant chorus and said, "Camille Saint-Saens is the one who published the music. His father played this song with the skeletons and passed the music on to him when the skeletons went underground so that no one would ever forget it."

"That's amazing," Papyrus said.

"If you think this sounds good, you should hear the second part that accompanies it or hear it in an orchestra," Frisk replied as he began playing the faster part of the melody. "It's one of the greatest symphonic poems ever made, but I wish I could have seen it in a festival. There, the musicians played and the people danced until dawn while they mingled with the spirits of the dead."

"That sounds epic," Undyne said. "It also sounds like a good place to take someone on a first…Uh, you know what? Forget I said anything."

Fortunately for Undyne, that was easy to do. Frisk and Papyrus were letting themselves get lost in the music from his violin.

Frisk played the song almost effortlessly with all its highs and lows and different tones and sang the accompanying melody when his violin was not playing its solo. The macabre music flowed vibrantly from his fingertips as he reveled in every memory that this song brought to his mind.

Sans and Papyrus reveled in long-forgotten memories of their own.

Papyrus started singing the second part and dancing around Frisk to the melody like he would when his father played. Frisk smiled and started dancing around him, too. Each one copied the other one's moves while adding their own flair. Papyrus performed Frisk's moves more dramatically while Frisk kept up the best he could without messing up his performance. The two danced in a sort of rhythmic orbit that only grew livelier as the song approached its climax.

Meanwhile, Sans sat on the other end of the phone in silence and let the memories wash over him.

Frisk's performance was so vibrant and energetic that Undyne turned around to watch and Toriel started humming along.

When the piece was reaching the end, Frisk went back to walking. Papyrus caught on and slowed his pace, too.

Then, Frisk said, "When the sun rose the next morning, the dancing stopped and the musicians put away their instruments. The spirits of the dead returned to the other side and the merrymakers returned home to rest after their long night of revelry. Their energy was spent. Their dead loved ones were satisfied. Everyone would go home happy despite having spent all night doing the dance of the macabre."

Frisk ended the piece and let his arms rest by his side.

Everyone started clapping while Undyne said, "I'm impressed, punk. Great job! It looks like your determination is stronger than you thought."

Frisk smiled and breathed deeply as his HP rose another point. Meanwhile, back in the Ruins, Sans smiled to himself as his HP rose by another point, too.


	84. Chapter 84

Unfortunately, the applause didn't end when Papyrus and Undyne stopped clapping. Not too far away, they could hear the sound of a third person clapping and walking towards them, in high heels.

No one said anything out of fear.

Papyrus handed Frisk his violin case and surrounded their group with his bones while Undyne pulled out her spear in anticipation. Once Frisk had packed his violin and his bow away and was holding his violin case against his chest, Papyrus picked Frisk up in his arms.

Undyne quickly turned off her flashlight and Papyrus quickly did the same.

As the footsteps grew closer, they all held their breaths.

Thinking quickly, Undyne dissolved her spear, grabbed Papyrus' hand, and whispered, "Put down your bones and follow me."

"What are you -?" Papyrus started to ask as quietly as he could.

"Trust me," Undyne replied. "If I recall Frisk's memories correctly, I can get us around whoever that is."

"My lovely contestants, are you alright?" the familiar, obnoxiously flamboyant voice rang out confirming their worst fears. "We have had a few minor technical difficulties and I just wanted to make sure you hadn't fallen over the edge into the abyss. Where did you go?"

Mettaton couldn't have been any more than 100 feet away.

Papyrus quickly dissolved his bones and whispered, "Alright, Undyne, you lead the way. Don't worry, Frisk. We'll be out of here in no time."

Frisk replied with an "okay" and started silently praying.

Undyne and Papyrus walked backwards until they had almost reached the edge. For fear of falling, she stopped there and they just listened.

"When he passes by, you two run like hell," Undyne whispered. "You understand me? I'll take care of the pretty boy."

"No, Undyne," Frisk whispered pleadingly. "Don't hurt him. I don't want him to die."

"Why not?" Undyne quietly protested.

"I don't want any more sad endings for anyone," Frisk replied. "Please, Undyne…"

"Besides," Papyrus chimed in. "This isn't a fair fight for either of you. Neither of you can really see where you're going."

"Fair point," Undyne reluctantly agreed. "Alright, I won't fight him. At least, not now…"

"Frisk, dear, are you down here?!" Mettaton yelled much loudly from about 8 feet in front of them. "I know you are. I could hear you playing the violin. You sounded wonderful. Are you with my lovely contestants? I know you're around here somewhere, even though you somehow managed to get your bracelet off. You don't need to be afraid, dear! I'm not going to hurt you. Come out. Come out. Wherever you are."

They did not realize that Mettaton had gained so much ground so quickly. Everyone went silent and hardly breathed while Mettaton stood there and looked around listening for a sound. Evidently, he couldn't see in the dark either.

"Hmmm," Mettaton said before he continued walking past them.

Undyne then pulled Papyrus behind her as quickly and quietly as possible with Frisk still in his arms. They were so quiet that they practically stopped breathing.

Unfortunately, when they had run about 400 feet away, Undyne tripped and Papyrus fell on top of her with an "oompf." It wasn't that loud, but it was just loud enough.

"Oh, there, you are!" Mettaton happily called out from a distance causing them all to freeze in their tracks.

"Oh, shit," Frisk muttered fearfully. "Please, God, no."

"Don't worry, Frisk," said Undyne as she and Papyrus got to their feet. "We won't let him get you again."

"I'm coming, darling!" Mettaton yelled as his boots clacked louder and more quickly towards their general direction. "Don't go anywhere!"

Undyne summoned her glowing spears, fired them in Mettaton's general direction, and yelled, "Eat this, pretty boy!"

The group heard Mettaton shuffle around quickly on his feet and respond, "You're gonna have to do better than that, Undyne. Your moves might be good enough for Dr. Alphys, but you're gonna have to try harder to stop me!"

"Shut up!" Undyne yelled. "God, you're annoying! Papyrus, make a wall now!"

"Right," Papyrus said momentarily dropping Frisk on the ground and creating a wall of bones in front of them. "Now, what?"

Undyne lifted Frisk onto her back, tossed the violin case to Papyrus, and said, "Run like hell and don't you dare drop the violin!"

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" Papyrus replied running while cradling the violin case in his arms.

"Hey!" Frisk whined while Undyne and Papyrus dashed as far away as possible. "Don't toss my instrument like that. You could break it."

"I think we have bigger problems right now, punk," Undyne retorted.

"I'll say," Mettaton's voice said in front of them before the ground fell out from under them again.

They fell upwards through a hole on the path overlooking the city that Frisk had followed many times before and landed on their feet when the hole was dissolved.

Another hole opened up, and Mettaton popped out and posed in front of them once he dissolved that hole as well.

Papyrus, Undyne, and Frisk all did double takes. Mettaton was wearing a blue minstrel outfit of varying hues instead of the dress he wore all the previous times.

But before any of them had too much time to think about it, lights came up. Cameras came on. Calibri handed Mettaton a microphone. Then, suddenly, they were live.

"Beauties and gentlebeauties, our crisis has been averted," Mettaton announced. "My lovely contestants and my son have been found safe and sound. It's a miracle."

Mettaton clapped his hands along with the crew and the audience at home while Frisk and Undyne simultaneously rolled their eyes.

"Now, for those of you just tuning in, Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton are fighting through an obstacle course against me for the right to take the homeless human orphan Frisk home as their son," Mettaton said as he walked more closely to his contestants before Undyne summoned a spear as a warning. "But before commercial break, we were having some technical difficulties and Frisk took the chance to run away from his babysitter and me and somehow managed to find his way back. Now, Frisk, would you like to explain how you did that for the curious audience watching?"

Mettaton stretched out his arm until the microphone was right next to Frisk's face.

Frisk saw Burgerpants standing nervously next to the crew and staring at him apologetically.

Frisk looked back at Mettaton and said, "No, that's none of your business."

"I'd beg to differ," Mettaton replied. "You are legally my responsibility."

"Tough toenails," Frisk retorted. "I'm not your son."

Mettaton leaned back, posed dramatically, and said, "Oh, woe is me! What ever shall I do?"

Lights went down, and the spotlight appeared on Mettaton. He strutted backwards to the bottom of the stairs, fell back onto them, and posed against them dramatically.

"Alas! My son, the child I have adopted as my own, has turned against me," Mettaton monologued. "Why has he betrayed me so? Have I not fed him and clothed him and treated him with the upmost courtesy? Have I not vowed to care for him as I would my own flesh and blood? Why does he treat me with such vile contempt? Where ever did I go wrong?"

"God, he was less annoying when he wore the dress," Frisk muttered quietly causing Undyne and Papyrus to chuckle under their breath.

"My son," Mettaton said reaching out his hand towards Frisk who was suddenly lit up with the spotlight. "Won't you return to me? There shall be no consequence for your betrayal. I only want you to come home…And play this MTT-brand electric guitar I bought for you!"

Another spotlight shined on the electric guitar that was sitting on the landing at the top of the stairs.

"How about it, my dear son?" Mettaton asked.

"I'm just fine with the violin you bought me, asshole!" Frisk yelled back at him.

Just then, the ratings board pinged as 20 viewers stopped watching the show at once. The ping was loud enough to catch the notice of Mettaton and Frisk's group.

Mettaton was visibly flustered for a moment before regaining his composure.

"Darling, I must ask again for you not to use such language on a family-friendly television show," Mettaton said firmly. "Such language makes my audience unhappy, and when my audience is unhappy, I'm unhappy. Understand?"

The dots finally started coming together in Frisk's and everyone else's mind. Undyne, Papyrus, and Frisk exchanged knowing glances.

"Yes, Mettaton," Frisk replied. "We understand. May I play a song for the audience? I'll sing the lyrics, too."

"Oh, my dear," Mettaton said happily getting to his feet. "Nothing would make me happier. What do you want to play?"

"It's a song called 'Dumb,'" Frisk said. "It was written by a grunge band called Nirvana."

"Oh," Mettaton said in slight confusion. "That sounds…interesting. Why doesn't Mr. Skeleton put you down so you can play?"

Papyrus looked worried for a second, but after receiving a smile from Frisk, he put him down but kept his hands on his shoulders.

Frisk smirked back at his friends one more time as he began to play.


	85. Chapter 85

Edit: I've decided not to let my family control my emotions anymore. I can't trust them and that's fine, but I have a God who understands and friends, too. I can live with being the black sheep. My New Year's Resolution is to get a great job and move out.

A microphone rose up on a platform from out of nowhere as Frisk began singing the first lyrics.

"I'm not like them," Frisk sang as he plucked his mother's arrangement of the guitar melody on the violin with his fingers. "But I can pretend. The sun is gone, but I have a light. The day is done, but I'm having fun. I think I'm dumb, or maybe just happy…"

Frisk stopped plucking and played the violin melody as he began to sing the chorus.

"I think I'm just happy," Frisk sang in between the melodies. "I think I'm just happy. I think I'm just happy…"

Frisk glanced over at Mettaton who was still lying dramatically against the stairs. He had a satisfied smile that was about to disappear.

Frisk went back to plucking the violin and sang, "My heart is broke, but I have some glue. Help me inhale and mend it with you. We'll float around and hang out on clouds. Then we'll come down and have a hangover…"

Frisk returned to playing his melody as he heard Undyne snickering in the background. Everyone else was dead silent.

Frisk's memory returned to his mother.

He smiled as he remembered how much she loved this song and how passionate she was when she sang it. He smiled as he remembered how especially passionate she would sing when she had a bottle in her hand…

Then Frisk's smile faded away. Papyrus noticed the change and nudged Undyne. Unbeknownst to them, Mettaton noticed the change, too.

"Have a hangover," Frisk sang again in between the melodies. "Have a hangover. Have a hangover."

Then, tears began forming.

"Frisk, are you okay?" Papyrus whispered loudly enough for Frisk to hear.

Frisk ignored him and started playing another harmony for the next part of the song. To his surprise, he still wasn't interrupted.

"Skin the sun," he sang shutting his eyes against the tears. "Fall asleep. Wish away. The soul is cheap. Lesson learned. Wish me luck. Soothe the burn. Wake me up."

As he began playing the final part of the song, Frisk felt Papyrus' hands tighten their grip on his shoulder. That's when he realized Mettaton was walking towards him and snapped back into focus.

"I'm not like them, but I can pretend," he sang louder than before. "The sun is gone, but I have a light. The day is done, but I'm having fun. I think I'm dumb. I think I'm dumb. I think I'm dumb…"

Mettaton then snatched the microphone away from Frisk as Papyrus picked Frisk up and held him defensively again. Frisk looked at Mettaton and smiled while wiping away the tears from his eyes. He looked flustered.

"What was that for?!" Frisk protested.

"Darling," Mettaton said into the microphone sounding mildly annoyed. "I thought I told you that this was a family-friendly program. That song you just sang was completely inappropriate. It knocked our ratings down by 100 points!"

"What do you mean?" Frisk asked innocently as Undyne snickered under her breath. "My mother taught me this song. It was her favorite. She said it reflected her soul."

"Your mother said a song about doing drugs represented her soul?" Mettaton asked suspiciously.

"This song isn't about doing drugs," Frisk replied in half-truth. "It's about being happy when you feel like an outcast. You just can't see the symbolism."

"Obviously not," Mettaton said as his expression grew more serious. "Darling, why don't you play some non-lyrical violin pieces for a while? I'll get you a chair…"

"Oh, that won't be necessary," Papyrus said holding Frisk over a thick bone he made rise out of the ground and letting him go so that it could rise with him on it. "He can use this chair."

Frisk smiled, sat up straight, and started playing "La Danse Macabre" again.

Much to his surprise, he heard a piano accompanying him before he even finished the first measure. He looked around the set and saw Calibri playing a piano that he didn't noticed before. He looked at Calibri curiously who only looked back at him with a wink as they continued playing.


	86. Chapter 86

Frisk and Calibri finished performing, and the whole studio erupted in applause. Frisk looked up, smiled shyly, and took a bow with his head. He smiled at Calibri who gave him a thumbs up and walked away as the ratings went up by 100 points.

"Darling, that was magnificent," Mettaton said walking over with the mic once the applause had died down. "You're quite the virtuoso. Wherever did you learn how to play like that?"

"My mother," Frisk replied.

"Hold on, dear," Mettaton said before he extended his arm with the mic until it reached Frisk's face. "Could you say that again?"

Frisk tensed up at the microphone in his face for a second before he replied, "My mother, she taught me how to play the violin and the piano. She studied the instruments her whole life. The nuns at the orphanage gave her lessons when her parents died. My father taught me the acoustic and the electric guitar. He taught himself how to play those before his family even died…"

Without warning, Mettaton pulled the microphone back and posed dramatically.

"So much talent for such unfortunate lives," Mettaton interrupted. "If only they had someone rich and famous to nurture their talents and give them opportunities. I just know they would have been superstars. But instead, they were poor…Frisk, what did you say your parents did for a living?"

Mettaton shoved the microphone back into Frisk's face as Frisk visibly panicked and looked askance to Papyrus and Undyne for help. Undyne shook her head as quickly as she could. Papyrus pointed to her and nodded. Their actions were not lost on Mettaton, but he ignored it for now.

Frisk looked back at Mettaton and replied, "Uh…My parents…They were part of my city's law enforcement…kind of like Undyne…"

"So, kind of like the police?" Mettaton asked projecting his voice without the help of the microphone.

"Yeah," Frisk lied more confidently. "Exactly like the police…"

"A career they doubtlessly took to survive after they outgrew the orphanage and continued to support you after you were born," Mettaton said continuing his dramatic shtick again as he pulled back his arm until the microphone was hanging above his head. "Your poor parents, they never got to really follow their dreams…"

"Yes, they did!" Frisk yelled defensively. "They wanted to be happy and have a happy family! They got what they wanted! They told me so!"

Frisk's heartwarming words caused the ratings to go up by 50 points. Mettaton noticed and stood up straight. He knew just how to make the ratings go up even more.

"Darling, don't misunderstand me," Mettaton replied. "I never said your parents weren't happy with their lives. I just said that your parents never got to use their talents to their upmost potentials because they lacked the money and opportunity to do so. That must have been hard for them. Trust me. I know exactly how that feels. That's why I'm going to give that opportunity to you instead, Frisk dear. I will not let your talents go to waste as your parents had to. Your talent will be nourished, and you will have everything I'm sure your parents always wanted you to have."

Frisk glared angrily, took the bow and violin in one hand, and used the other to support him while he slid down the bone chair until he was back on the ground.

He walked back over to Papyrus and Undyne without breaking eye contact with Mettaton and finally replied, "I already have everything they wanted me to have! I don't need anything else!"

Mettaton simply rolled his eyes in response and said, "You'll never go anywhere with that attitude, darling. You must make some sacrifices to have it all."

"Like you did?" Frisk asked.

Mettaton tensed up for a second before his expression softened again and he said, "Exactly…"

Suddenly, Calibri ran on stage, passed Mettaton a message, and ran away.

"What's this?" Mettaton asked as he read the message written on the card. "Oh, my…This is unexpected. It seems that the audience is calling in and requesting you to perform more songs like the first one you sang. So, why don't we get you your electric guitar and have you perform again?"

"I'm not going anywhere near you," Frisk spat back.

"You don't have to," Mettaton retorted creating another trapdoor that brought the electric guitar and amp down to the stage.

He caught the items, walked over to Frisk, set the amplifier down, and held out the electric guitar to Frisk.

"Well?" Mettaton asked smugly. "Are you gonna take it or not, Frisk?"

Frisk scowled at him and quietly asked Papyrus to put the violin away.

When Papyrus nodded and placed the violin and bow back in their case, Frisk took the electric guitar from Mettaton and asked, "Do you have a pick?"

Before he could blink, a black pick with the pirate skull and crossbones was hovering in front of his face. Frisk grabbed the pick and looked around for the source until he saw Calibri standing off-stage and giving Frisk a thumbs up before he walked away again.

"What will you be playing for us, Frisk?" Mettaton asked.

"It's a song called 'Corduroy,'" Frisk replied. "It's from a band called Pearl Jam. It's my favorite grunge song of all time."

"Alright, then," Mettaton said as the spotlight focused on Frisk again and he placed the microphone on a stand that Calibri placed in front of Frisk. "Take it away, darling."

Frisk gave Undyne and Papyrus a quick wink before he began playing the opening chords. The riff was simple and straightforward but genuinely emotional. Hearing the sound of grunge from his guitar for Frisk was like reuniting with an old friend.

As Frisk played the chords faster in the lead-up to the opening line, he felt his heart brim with a defiant passion that hadn't come alive in a long time.

"The waiting drove me mad," Frisk sang out before glaring at Mettaton again. "You're finally here and I'm a mess. I take your entrance back! Can't let you roam inside my head!"

Then Frisk closed his eyes as he passionately sang the chorus, "I don't wanna take what you can give. I would rather starve than eat your bread! I would rather run, but I can't walk. I guess I'll like alone just like before."

Mettaton quickly realized that Frisk was singing to him and listened curiously as Frisk continued playing the guitar riff before he got to singing the next part. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the ratings had risen by about 20 points.

Frisk opened his eyes, turned around, and took a step towards Mettaton as he played and sang aggressively, "I take the varmint's path! Oh, and I must refuse your test! Push me and I will resist! This behavior's not unique! I don't wanna hear from those who know. They can buy but can't put on my clothes. I don't wanna limp for them to walk. Never would have known of me before. I don't wanna be held in your debt! I'd pay it off in blood, let I be wed! I'm already cut up and half-dead! I'd end up alone like I began!"

Undyne and Papyrus looked at each other and at Frisk in amazement as he began playing faster and angry, passionate tears began forming at the corner of his eyes.

"Everything has chains!" Frisk sang out. "Absolutely nothing's changed! Take my hand! Not my picture! Spilled my tinc-TURE!"

While holding the last note, Frisk backed up until his back was against Papyrus' legs and sang the chorus, "I don't wanna take what you can give! I would rather starve than eat your bread! All the things that others want for me…"

Frisk glanced quickly at Undyne and Papyrus before he continued, "Can't buy what I want because it's free! Can't buy what I want because it's free…"

Frisk stopped playing and sang loudly for everyone to hear, "Can't be what you want because I'm…"

He then continued playing in full force and sang, "Ain't it supposed to be just fun? To live and die, let it be done! I figure I'd be damned, all alone like I began!"

Frisk played the outro while the entire studio watched in astonishment. He sang pretty well and played at a practically virtuosic level. That was impressive enough considering his age, but what really impressed them was his passion and his conviction behind every word and how every word was pointedly directed at Mettaton.

They all watched Mettaton and waited for his reaction against this brazenly defiant child. Burgerpants was so scared that he even started praying.

In the meantime, Mettaton stared Frisk down in annoyance for a moment before he gestured for his producers to cut to a commercial and the lights came up.

Neither Frisk nor his friends noticed, however. When Frisk finished playing, Undyne and Papyrus clapped ecstatically while Frisk stood there in amazement at his own achievement.

"WOOHOO!" Papyrus screamed. "Frisk, that was absolutely incredible! You're so cool!"

"Yeah, punk!" Undyne yelled while lifting Frisk up in her arms. "That was awesome! I can't believe how quickly you got a hold of this whole memory thing. I'm proud of you, Frisk!"

Mettaton's expression relaxed and he started strutting towards Frisk without anyone in his group noticing. The entire studio held their breath.

"I'm proud of me, too," Frisk said excitedly as Undyne put him down. "I can't believe how quickly I got a hold of it either. I can remember it all so clearly now. I remember all the guitar lessons my Dad ever gave me. I remember all the songs we learned. I remember all of it. Oh, my God. I can't believe it…"

"Frisk…" Papyrus said finally noticing the approaching robot.

Undyne defensively placed her hands on Frisk's shoulders as Mettaton stopped just in front of them and crossed his arms.

An awkward moment of silence passed between them before Mettaton finally said, "Darling, is that how you really feel about me?"

"Yes," Frisk replied confidently. "I have a family, and I would rather be homeless again than spend a second with you living as your cash cow."

"Frisk, dear, that hurts my feelings, but I suppose it can't be helped," Mettaton said before he simultaneously grabbed Frisk's arm and created a trapdoor under Undyne and Papyrus.

Mettaton just managed to pull Frisk away before Undyne or Papyrus could do anything. Frisk watched helplessly as his friends screamed after him and they were separated once again.


	87. Chapter 87

When the trapdoor closed, Frisk tried to shake himself out of Mettaton's grip, but Mettaton held onto his arm and wouldn't let him go.

While Frisk struggled, Mettaton took the electric guitar from around Frisk's neck, laid it on the ground, knelt down to Frisk's level, grabbed his other hand, and said, "Frisk, sweetheart, I know you don't like me, but I really do want what's best for you and for all of us. The sooner you realize that…"

"Bull…shit…" Frisk said in Mettaton's face.

"The sooner we can start getting along," Mettaton said without missing a beat. "Now, Daddy is going over to the next obstacle course to continue the show. I need you to…OW!"

Frisk delivered a strong front kick to Mettaton's torso. It knocked down his HP by 15 points and stunned him enough to let Frisk go for a few seconds. This time, Frisk didn't care about the damage he caused.

He booked it to the road before the stage as quickly as he could, but once again, Mettaton was faster. He emerged from a trapdoor in front of the unruly child. Before Frisk could stop himself, he ran straight into the tall robot who picked him up, gestured to someone off-stage with his head, lifted Frisk into his arms, and held him up by his waist while he was kicking and squirming.

"Frisk, that is enough!" Mettaton said in annoyance.

"I don't have to listen to you," Frisk said squirming as hard as he possibly could. "I'm not your…"

Before Frisk could finish his sentence, Mettaton created another trap door that opened into a clinically-white doctor's office filled with monsters who were yelling or blubbering on about nothing.

Frisk went silent as he realized exactly what Mettaton was showing him.

"You understand now," Mettaton said quietly. "Don't you, darling? My threats are not empty. This is what is waiting for you if you choose to keep ignoring me. You may hate me. You might rather die than be with me. But by God, you're not going to upset my viewers any longer and I will go to whatever lengths I need to so that doesn't happen. Is that understood, Frisk?"

Frisk only glared back, so Mettaton let him slide through his hands until he was being suspended by his armpits.

"Okay!" Frisk said. "I'll be good!"

Mettaton smiled and said, "Do you promise?"

Frisk looked back at him and back at the asylum waiting for him and back at Mettaton before he finally said, "Alright, I promise."

"Splendid," Mettaton said changing his tone, shutting the trapdoor with his foot, and dropping Frisk back onto the ground on his bottom.

He pulled him to his feet, and before Frisk could even blink, they were back on the air.

"Sorry about that, beauties and gentlebeauties," Mettaton said. "We had some technical difficulties, but now, everything is back to normal and Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton are on the next obstacle course…"

As Mettaton prattled on, Frisk glared back at him and felt himself being overwhelmed with his dark emotions. His heart beat quickly and his breathing shallowed as the rage built up inside him.

During the first run, Frisk could justify the robot's actions, but on every other run, his actions were inexcusable. Mettaton had done nothing but exploited him for every last rating, and this time, it went too far. Frisk couldn't let this one slide.

Frisk could hear the voice that he heard in the very first run, the voice that told him to rip his enemies apart. He had banished that voice when he reset the first time, but now, that voice was returning with a vengeance. Thankfully, he had another Voice to combat it this time.

"Don't do it," the Voice whispered. "Frisk, you want to be a pacifist. Please. A demon is crouching at your door, and it wants to master you. You can't let it."

The Voice repeated those words, but Frisk felt his anger growing. He felt it possessing him. All the Voice did was make him angrier.

Frisk whispered back angrily as he started to shake with fury, "I'll still be a pacifist. I won't kill him. I'll just make him hurt really, really bad. So what if I go too far? He deserves it. If you really don't want me to do it, you should make something happen to stop me."

"Darling, did you say something?" Mettaton asked Frisk getting him out of his thoughts.

Frisk shot Mettaton a glare that took him aback. If looks could kill…

"Frisk, dear, would you like to talk to me or to the audience?" Mettaton asked. "God knows you need to talk to somebody. Your psyche is broken enough with your past, and your other guardians have done anything but help. Thank God you have me! Isn't that right, my audience?"

Mettaton posed dramatically for the audience on the other side of the camera.

Frisk snapped. He lunged towards Mettaton as quickly as he possibly could not caring what would happen to either of them. Mettaton finally noticed what was happening and turned around to look, but before they could collide, Frisk felt himself being pulled back. He turned over his shoulder to see Burgerpants pulling him towards him telekinetically.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Frisk yelled as he fruitlessly squirmed to get out of Burgerpants' grip. "Put me down now!"

Mettaton saw what was happening and gestured to cut to a commercial before he yelled, "Darling, what is the meaning of this?! Were you trying to assault me?!"

"No, he's having a panic attack, boss," Burgerpants quickly lied as Frisk violently thrashed while hovering next to him. "But don't worry. I'll take care of it. Just give us some time alone."

"He just tried to attack me, Burgie," Mettaton said incredulously. "I don't think this is a panic attack. I think he's acting out and needs to spend the night with the psychiatrists…"

"That's not necessary," Burgerpants interrupted. "He's just freaking out. He'll calm down soon."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then," Mettaton said dismissively before he tossed a water bottle to him. "Make sure he drinks water. I'm going to get ready for the next obstacle course. Bring Frisk back when he calms down."

"Yes, boss," Burgerpants said stuffing the water bottle in the pocket of his hoodie while exiting the set and telekinetically carrying a still thrashing Frisk in front of him.


	88. Chapter 88

Burgerpants grabbed Frisk's arm and teleported away with him as soon as Mettaton turned his back. They reappeared on the roof on the studio a few miles away as Frisk continued to thrash angrily.

Burgerpants let Frisk land on the ground and asked, "Alright, kid, you're safe now. You can let it all out. God knows you need to…"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU LET ME FIGHT HIM?!" Frisk snapped angrily. "I WAS SO CLOSE! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!"

"What good would it have done, kid?" Burgerpants said pulling out a beaten-up garbage can with Mettaton's face on it along with a baseball bat from behind one of the air vent ducts. "He would have dropped you into a padded cell after just one blow. Then, your family would have no chance of getting you back. Is that what you want?!"

"IT WOULD HAVE BEEN WORTH IT IF I COULD HAVE HURT HIM!" Frisk screamed back.

"You don't mean that!"

"Yes, I do!"

"Take this," Burgerpants said calmly handing Frisk the bat and sitting up the garbage can. "If you need to hurt something, hurt something without a soul."

"Mettaton doesn't have a soul!" Frisk yelled back with a few tears falling from his eyes. "Why can't I hurt him?! He's such an asshole! All he does is ruin everything! Today was going to be amazing. I was going to be adopted by my new family. We were going to celebrate. We were all going to be happy. But then that douche came along and tricked me!"

Frisk slammed his bat into the garbage can knocking over a few yards.

"Why did I have to listen to him? Why was I so stupid? Why did I expect him to keep his word? I should have known better! It's my fault! Now, my family's in danger all because of me! Why can't I do anything right?!"

Slam!

"Then every time I think we even have a prayer of escaping, that goddamn robot piece of trash has to get in the way and twist everything I do for his stupid show! He's always one step ahead with his stupid plans and his stupid trapdoors!"

Slam!

"My God, I hate that robot! I hate him so much! No matter what I try to do, Mettaton has to ruin it all! And the better the person I try to be, the worse he is! He wants me! AND THERE'S NOT A DAMN THING I CAN DO TO STOP IT!"

Slam! Slam! Slam! Slam! Slam! Crack!

The garbage can finally broke in half from the sheer force of Frisk's blows. Burgerpants stood there in stunned silence listening as Frisk dropped the baseball bat on the ground, breathed hard, and continued to shed his tears.

"You know what?" Frisk said in between sobs. "Sans is right. This isn't my fault. It's Mettaton's. He would have taken me even if I said no, but that doesn't help. It just means I'm helpless. Nothing I do works. How do I stop him, Burgerpants?"

Burgerpants didn't know what to say, but he wrapped his arms around Frisk and held him in a gentle hug while the boy held onto his shirt and kept sobbing.


	89. Chapter 89

After a few minutes, Burgerpants looked up and realized they weren't alone.

"Calibri?" Burgerpants asked in surprise. "What are you doin' up here?"

Calibri waved as Frisk looked up at him. He looked and Frisk and waved at him, too. Now that Frisk could get a good look at him, he noticed he was wearing black jeans and a red and black-striped tank top.

Frisk let go of Burgerpants' shirt and wiped his tears before he said, "Hey. Thanks for helping me earlier."

Calibri simply nodded.

"Hey, Calibri," Burgerpants began. "I don't mean to be rude, but I think we need some more alone time."

Calibri moved his hands in quick and expressive gestures. Frisk widened his eyes as he realized he was speaking sign language.

"Really?" Burgerpants replied. "How do you want to help?"

"You understand sign language?" Frisk asked turning to look at Burgerpants.

"A little bit," Burgerpants said. "We both work around the hotel and the studio, so I've picked up on some things."

"Is Calibri deaf?" Frisk asked.

Before Burgerpants could answer, they both heard a quiet, hoarse voice reply, "I'm not deaf."

Frisk and Burgerpants turned to Calibri who blew a cloud of teal magic out from his mouth that turned into words as he signed with his hands.

"I'M MUTE," Calibri's words read.

"Mostly," Calibri said quietly with a smile. "Don't worry. I'll translate."

"I THINK I KNOW A WAY TO HELP YOU GET BACK AT METTATON," Calibri's subtitles said.

"What?" Frisk asked. "How? Why are you helping us? Who are you anyways?"

"MIND IF I ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS BACKWARDS? I'M CALIBRI. I'M ONE OF METTATON'S BACK-UP MUSICIANS AND STAGEHANDS BY DAY, AND BY NIGHT, I'M PART OF AN UNDERGROUND ALTERNATIVE ROCK BAND CALLED 'ANTI-METTATON.' IT'S A WORKING TITLE. ANYWAY, WORKING FOR METTATON HAS SUCKED SO MUCH…" the subtitles read.

"Tell me about it," Burgerpants said.

"Seems to be a recurring theme around here," Frisk added.

Calibri smiled and continued, "I CAN'T STAND HIS STUPID SHOW. SURE, IT MAKES PEOPLE HAPPY, BUT IT'S SO EMPTY AND PRETENTIOUS. ALL METTATON DOES IS PROMOTE HIS BRAND AND FILL PEOPLE'S HEADS WITH MEANINGLESS CRAP. MEANWHILE, MUSICIANS LIKE ME AND MY BAND MEMBERS ARE TRYING TO DO SOMETHING MEANINGFUL AND WE'RE BARELY SCRAPING BY IN THE UNDERGROUND'S RADIO INDUSTRY. IT MAKES ME SICK. I TRIED ASKING METTATON IF WE CAN BE ON THE SHOW, BUT HE SAYS WE'RE NOT MARKETABLE ENOUGH. WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT EVEN MEAN?! HE'S SO…"

"Cal, I hate to interrupt, but…" Burgerpants interrupted. "We're on a bit of a tight schedule here."

"Right," Calbri said out loud before he went back to signing. "NOW'S NOT THE TIME FOR A RANT. ANYWAY, I CAN'T STAND THAT ROBOT OR WHAT HE'S DOING TO YOU, SO I'M HERE TO HELP."

"That's great," Frisk replied. "But what can we do? He's taken my family away."

Calibri smiled and signed, "WE'RE GOING TO RUIN HIS SHOW."

"What?!" Burgerpants asked.

"How?" Frisk asked.

"I KNOW YOU KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT ALREADY," Calibri signed. "YOU DIDN'T PLAY THAT GRUNGE SONG WITH THAT DRUG PARAPHERNALIA REFERENCE JUST BECAUSE YOU FELT LIKE IT. YOU PLAYED IT ON PURPOSE. YOU WERE TRYING TO MAKE HIS RATINGS FALL. NOW, WHAT DO YOU THINK METTATON WOULD DO IF YOU MADE HIS RATINGS DROP ALL THE WAY TO ZERO AND HIS ENTIRE AUDIENCE DECIDED THEY HATED YOU?"

Burgerpants visibly panicked, and Frisk flashed a devilish smile as his HP gained another point.


	90. Chapter 90

"Are we really going to do this?" Burgerpants asked nervously as the trio continued talking while walking back downstairs to the studio.

"YES" Calibri signed quickly.

"We could all be fired, Calibri. I'm 19. I can't afford to start a new career path."

"I'M 25. I DON'T CARE. METTATON DESERVES IT."

"Oh, I didn't realize you were that old. Maybe there's hope for me after all."

Calibri and Frisk paused and stared at Burgerpants incredulously before Calibri simply whispered, "Rude."

"Burgerpants, this is gonna be amazing," Frisk said. "There's nothing to it. All I have to do is lull the audience into a false sense of security until Mettaton leaves me alone, I play some offensive songs, and then boom! The audience hates me, Mettaton doesn't want me anymore, and I'm free to return to my family."

"We can't go through with this," Burgerpants said. "Why can't we just sneak away and hide somewhere?"

"That hasn't worked any other time we tried it," Frisk snapped. "Has it?"

Calibri signed, "HE HAS A POINT."

"Look, I have already texted Sans and the others and they agree with me," Frisk said turning around in front of the others and stopping the two in their tracks. "Even if I hide somewhere, Mettaton will not leave me alone. I have to find a way to stop him from wanting me and this is the best we know how to do it. I know it's risky, but if we don't do anything, nothing will change. I am not going home with Mettaton tonight. Come on, Burgerpants. Please."

Calibri turned to Burgerpants and signed, "I PROMISE WE'LL BE CAREFUL. COME ON. FRISK NEEDS A DRUMMER."

Burgerpants sighed and said, "I suppose I do owe ya for not bein' able to help ya earlier, kid. We just have to be smart about this, alright?"

Frisk smiled and nodded.

"OKAY," Calibri signed. "WE ALL KNOW THE PLAN. YOU TWO DO AS MUCH DAMAGE AS YOU CAN WHEN METTATON THINKS HE CAN TRUST YOU AND I'LL GO RETRIEVE THE EXTRA INSTRUMENTS FROM MY EVIL TWIN."

"Hey, Calibri?" Burgerpants asked. "How did you know I could play the drums?"

"I WAS A TEACHER'S ASSISTANT IN YOUR MIDDLE SCHOOL BAND CLASS WHILE I WAS STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL. REMEMBER?"

"I thought that was River."

"NO, MY DAD WAS STILL A FINANCIAL CRIMES LAWYER. REMEMBER?"

"Wait, is your Dad's name River?" Frisk asked.

"YEAH, WHY?" Calibri signed.

"Holy crap! Is your dad the ferryman?"

"YES, THAT'S WHAT HE DOES NOW THAT HE'S NOT WORKING FOR METTATON ANYMORE. YOU DIDN'T KNOW WE WERE RELATED?"

"No! How is your Dad? I never found out what happened to him after I ran away."

"He ran off to take that Temmie home and never came back!" the all-too-familiar flamboyant voice responded as he put his hand on Frisk's shoulder.

Frisk turned around to see Mettaton back in his normal EX form without clothing again. Frisk could not suppress a glare.

"How are you, darling? Feeling better?" Mettaton asked.

Frisk wanted to unleash his anger on Mettaton more than anything, but he had to remember their plan, for his sake, for the sake of his family.

So, Frisk took a deep breath and said, "Yes, I'm better."

"Splendid," Mettaton said. "The commercial break is almost over if you're ready to go back on-stage for your live performance. You'll be playing the piano. How does that sound?"

Frisk glanced back at his buddies, shared a knowing smirk, and said, "That sounds just fine. Is it okay if my friends perform with me?"

"Of course, Calibri is our studio's greatest musical talent," Mettaton said. "Isn't that right, Calibri?"

"Yes," Calibri said while giving Mettaton a thumbs up.

"Calibri, dear, I can barely hear you," Mettaton said. "Why aren't you using the MTT speech-generating device I gave you?"

Calibri looked askance and signed, "I LOST IT."

"Again?" Mettaton asked raising a metaphorical eyebrow. "Honestly, Calibri, you should be keeping better track of your equipment. After all, you were its poster boy during the campaign. Luckily for you, I have the newest version right here."

Mettaton reached into a side compartment, pulled out the MTT-brand speech generating device, and handed it to the mute skeleton.

Calibri faked a smile and signed as he reluctantly took the device from his boss, "THANKS."

"No, no, use the device," Mettaton said. "I want to hear you use it. I need to know how it works for marketing purposes."

Calibri took a deep breath, flipped the device on, and held it to his throat.

"Thanks!" Calibri said in a voice that was mechanical and exactly as flamboyant as Mettaton's was.

Burgerpants and Frisk couldn't help but cringe as Calibri grimaced at his new device.

"Splendid, it works perfectly," Mettaton said. "Now, all the mute can have my voice! Isn't that great?"

"JUST SWELL," Calibri signed sarcastically.

"Good," Mettaton said completely missing the sarcasm. "Now, Frisk, are you ready to go on-stage?"

Frisk smiled in determination and said, "Readier than I've ever been."

Mettaton smiled and said, "That's my boy! Let's go!"

Frisk and his buddies smiled at each other as they followed Mettaton back to the stage.

When they arrived, there was a piano on the stage waiting for Frisk.


	91. Chapter 91

Mettaton walked ahead to the stage while the trio lingered behind.

"I can't believe he made you market his product," Frisk whispered.

"IT IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST REGRETS OF MY LIFE," Calibri signed before stuffing his speech-generating device inside the messenger bag he was carrying. "HE FOUND OUT MY DAD HAD A MUTE SON WHO WAS ALSO AN UMEMPLOYED COLLEGE GRADUATE LOOKING FOR A JOB AND SAW AN OPPORTUNITY. I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE I SAID YES AND WENT ALONG WITH IT."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Frisk said. "Mettaton has a way of persuading people."

"I SUPPOSE YOU'RE RIGHT," Calibri signed. "IT'S JUST FRUSTRATING. I THOUGHT THIS WOULD GET MY BAND SOME PUBLICITY, BUT IT HASN'T GOTTEN US JACK SHIT. THE ONLY GOOD THING TO COME OUT OF IT IS THAT THIS CRAP HAS HELPED US DEVELOP OUR SOUND."

"How?" Frisk asked.

"Yeah, what are you doing with all the speech-generating devices Mettaton gave you?" Burgerpants added.

Calibri looked over his shoulder to make sure Mettaton was still setting things up on-stage before he pulled out this speech-generating device, set it on its lowest volume, and held it against his larynx.

"You know how this thing gives me a voice, even if that voice is garbage?" Calibri said in a quiet, flamboyant tone. "I have figured out how to modify it to add more flamboyant vocals with my band."

Calibri adjusted a switch and said with a lower, more intimidating voice, "By playing with the vocal pitch adjustments, I can make our sound more interesting. I can even do death growls. Oh-wa-ah-ah-ah! I'll show you more later."

"Please do," Frisk said excitedly. "I used to listen to metal with my Dad sometimes. I loved all the deep growls. They sound so cool. We can use it for the performance. People will stop watching if you sound freaky enough."

Calibri put the device back in his bag and signed again, "MY DAD SHOULD BE PICKING UP THE INSTRUMENTS FROM MY EVIL TWIN BY NOW. I BETTER GO OUT TO MEET THEM. I'LL BE KEEPING TRACK OF THE SHOW ON MY PHONE AND BE SENDING MESSAGES TO BURGERPANTS TO UPDATE YOU ON WHAT'S GOING ON. NOW, REMEMBER. START OUT SUBTLE BEFORE MOVING ON TO OFFENSIVELY THOUGHT-PROVOKING. OKAY?"

"What do I do?" Burgerpants whispered. "There are no drums on the stage."

"YOU DON'T NEED DRUMS TO BE PERCUSSIVE," Calibri signed. "JUST IMPROVISE. YOU KNOW, LIKE ACTING."

"Frisk, sweetheart, we're ready for you," Mettaton's voice called from the stage.

Frisk looked at him and looked back at his buddies. His eyes flashed in a nervous panic as he took a deep breath.

"Don't worry," Calibri whispered. "I won't betray you. I'll be back. Just stay strong. Okay?"

Frisk smiled at him and signed the word "THANKS."

Calibri smiled back and walked away.

"Where are you going, Calibri?" Mettaton asked.

"I'M GOING TO GET THE INSTRUMENTS," Calibri signed. "I'LL BE BACK."

"Alright, hurry back," Mettaton said without much concern stepping out of the way for his child prodigy.

Frisk walked briskly over to the piano and sat down. Immediately, the lights went up, the cameras moved his way, the ratings board went up, and Frisk knew they were live again.

"Welcome back, beauties and gentlebeauties!" Mettaton said posing dramatically. "I apologize again for the interruption. Children can be so…unpredictable."

Frisk rolled his eyes as Mettaton made another dramatic pose before gesturing over to him.

"Now, my lovely audience, you will be treated once again with a musical performance from Frisk the human boy," Mettaton said dramatically. "Frisk has graciously agreed to treat us before and during the contestants' next stage."

Frisk's eyes flashed briefly in confusion before he regained his composure. Unbeknownst to him, Burgerpants and Calibri did the same thing.

Mettaton walked over, placed another water bottle on the instrument, and said, "Alright, darling, show us what you've got."

"I thought you were going to run the obstacle course with Papyrus and Undyne," Frisk replied without looking at him.

"Oh, I am," Mettaton said. "But I wanted to hear you play a little first. Is that alright?"

"Oh, sure," Frisk said nervously taking a deep breath before figuring out just what to play for this new development.

Once again, God was good.

Frisk put his fingers on the piano and started playing the lively and intricated melodies of ragtime that his mother loved to play. The music brought back more uplifting memories of all the time he spent with his mother learning how to play this music, specifically the piece he was playing then…

"Darling, what are you playing?" Mettaton asked interrupting Frisk's thoughts.

"It's called 'Bethena,'" Frisk said. "It was written over 100 years ago by a guy named Scott Joplin."

"Oh," Mettaton replied. "Okay."

Frisk didn't think about Mettaton's suspicious tone behind the comment and continued playing.

As Frisk continued playing, the memories of his mother grew stronger. Ragtime music was the music that reminded him of his mother the most. It was her favorite genre of piano music. It was just like her, resilient, upbeat, energetic, graceful, complex, intricate, and unbelievably beautiful even when sad.

The memories made Frisk smile…

"Darling?" Mettaton asked.

"Yeah?" Frisk replied in annoyance without stopping his playing.

"Why does the music sound so sad?" Mettaton asked.

"Because the song is kinda sad," Frisk retorted. "Scott Joplin wrote this song for his deceased wife, Bethena. My Mom told me. They finally got married, but she got sick. She was getting better and they thought she would be okay, but she died not too long after their honeymoon. Scott Joplin was heartbroken. He wrote this song to memorialize her and remember her until the day they would finally be reunited."

The story was so sweet that every crew member smiled. Even Burgerpants shed a tear, much to his own surprise. Much to Frisk's dismay, the ratings rose by 20 points.

"Frisk dear, why do you insist on playing such sad songs?" Mettaton complained. "Why can't you play something happy? We'll find you some sheet music if you don't know any good songs."

"The songs I play are from my memory," Frisk protested without stopping his performance. "If you put sheet music in front of me, I won't be able to perform it unless I'm allowed weeks to prepare ahead of time. Besides, what's wrong with this song? It's great."

"It's sad," Mettaton said simply. "Can't we listen to something else?"

"There is beauty in sadness and in grief," Frisk said angrily finally stopping his performance to look at Mettaton and slowly standing on top of the piano bench. "There is beauty in music like this, too. They draw out all the dark thoughts, all the pain, all the regret, everything negative you feel, and help you face it before they help you heal. Then when all the negative emotions are felt to their conclusions, you are left feeling happier than before. It's a kind of catharsis that only music can give. You can't just dismiss it because you don't like how it makes you feel!"

"Lighten up, Frisk," Mettaton said with a dramatic pose. "All this philosophy talk will bore our audience."

"God, you're so shallow," Frisk muttered under his breath as he sat down and crossed his arms.

"What's that, darling?"

"Nothing you don't already know in your subconscious."

"Whatever that means. Anyways, go back to playing."

"I thought you didn't want to hear the music anymore."

"I meant a different song."

Suddenly, the ratings dropped by 50 points due to Mettaton's terrible attitude. Everyone gasped while Frisk and Burgerpants smirked in surprise.

"What?" Mettaton asked his audience in surprise. "You want Frisk to keep playing? Uh, why didn't you say so? My apologies, my dear Frisk. Please continue playing that beautiful song."

Frisk smiled and said, "Gladly."

As soon as Frisk started playing again, the audience approval went up by that 50 points Mettaton lost before.

Mettaton watched the ratings board nervously while Frisk enjoyed the music and the reviving memories of his mother.


	92. Chapter 92

Frisk played several more ragtime songs before he took a break to drink some water. He had been so lost in his oncoming memories that he had almost forgotten about his new mission.

Mettaton, who had been waiting silently up to this point, leaned on the piano and said, "You're quite the talented musician, darling. You have promise."

"Thanks," Frisk said without looking at him.

"I can't wait to take you home and train you with the best musicians in the underground," Mettaton said standing up and posing dramatically.

"I can," Frisk muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Mettaton asked raising a non-existing eyebrow.

"What? I didn't say anything," Frisk lied looking at him with an innocent smile.

"Sure, you didn't, darling," Mettaton said sarcastically. "But you should know that you can't outdo me when it comes to sass."

Frisk rolled his eyes and put back his water bottle before Mettaton said, "Anyhow, my lovely audience, our next obstacle course will begin right after these messages from our sponsors."

Mettaton laid on top of the piano, folded his arms behind his head, and said, "Oh, Frisk, dear, you were absolutely marvelous! Now for the next obstacle course, I'm going to need you to head back to the studio in front of the live studio audience. During the obstacle course, you will play corresponding music to add drama to the scene for my viewers there and my viewers at home. Can you handle that, darling?"

"Yeah," Frisk said with an apathy that belied his excitement. "No problem. Can I go to the bathroom?"

"Of course," Mettaton said turning over on his belly to look Frisk in the eyes. "I'll have Burgerpants take you, but before you go, I just have one thing to say to you. Well, it's more of a warning really. Your behavior has improved exponentially, but you'd be stupid to think I completely trust you. If you do anything to purposefully ruin my show, you will wish curse the day you were born. Is that understood, love?"

"Yes, sir," Frisk said looking at the floor and pretending to be afraid of him.

"I'll be putting Burgerpants in charge of you until Calibri gets back just to be sure," Mettaton replied sitting up on the piano. "If you do anything wrong, they'll tell me immediately."

It took everything Frisk had to not burst out laughing at Mettaton's reply. This plan was working far too perfectly.

"Got it," Frisk said before realizing something important. "Wait, does Calibri know where I'll be?"

"I just texted him the location," Mettaton replied hopping to his feet. "He should. Why?"

"Uh," Frisk said searching for a good answer. "I really want to perform with Calibri. I just didn't want him to not know where we were."

"Fair enough," Mettaton said opening a trapdoor in the ground with his feet. "Frisk, Burgerpants, follow me to the next stage."

Burgerpants and Frisk walked over to the trapdoor and jumped through it back to the backstage area where this whole fiasco began.

"Okay, my dears," Mettaton said closing the trapdoor behind him to open another one. "I'm going to the next stage. Inferno will let you know when to begin. Until then, I look forward to seeing your performance. Ta ta!"

Mettaton jumped through the backdoor leaving the two friends alone. Frisk and Burgerpants smirked at each other in excitement, but before they could say anything, Inferno came over.

"Frisk, do you need to use the bathroom?" Inferno asked.

"Yeah, and Burgerpants does, too," Frisk said grabbing onto Burgerpants' hand before he started pulling him down the hall to the bathroom behind him.

Inferno looked back at them feeling a mix of hopeful suspicion and helpless worry.


	93. Chapter 93

Once Frisk and Burgerpants relieved themselves and washed their hands, they sat in the bathroom while Frisk texted his family back and forth.

Sans and Toriel were nearing the end of the adoption papers. It wouldn't take them longer than 2 hours to finish everything up.

Papyrus and Undyne volunteered to keep Mettaton as distracted as possible while Frisk took down the ratings.

Napstablook and Alphys were less than an hour's walk from the studio.

Whoever got there first, Frisk's job was to stall for time and stall for time he would.

"I still can't believe I'm doing this," Burgerpants said leaning his head back against the bathroom wall. "Going behind his back is one thing, but blatantly going behind his back in front of thousands of people is something else."

"I know," Frisk said standing up in excitement. "I can't wait to see the look on his face. This will be glorious. Now, come on. I've said my prayers and sent my messages, and I'm good to go!"

Burgerpants reluctantly got to his feet and followed Frisk out of the bathroom. Something else was weighing on his mind and he was trying to figure out how to breach the subject with the excited human boy walking next to him back to the stage.

"What?" Frisk said reading the new text from Calibri in surprise. "Calibri just said he and River are bringing back the instruments from Euphemia's place now. She's the evil twin?! I can't believe it. She is nothing like him…"

Frisk continued rambling about Euphemia and what she had put him through just as they approached the door leading back to the stage.

Burgerpants knew he had to act fast or else he might never get a chance to ask.

"Frisk?" Burgerpants asked stopping in his tracks in front of the stage door. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure," Frisk said while texting Calibri back. "What's up?"

"Uh, Frisk," Burgerpants began unsure of how to proceed. "You remember when we were sabotaging Mettaton back on the news set? You said something about seeing Mettaton jump through a wall. What did you mean by that? Something about that sounded very familiar."

Frisk froze in fear for a second before his nervous eyes wandered upwards to meet Burgerpants' gaze. His eyes were not angry or suspicious, just kind of curious.

"What do you mean?" Frisk asked barely taking a breath.

"Well, that scenario of Mettaton breaking through a wall, something about that sounds very familiar like it's something I watched before," Burgerpants continued oblivious to the boy's frightened emotions. "Not like in real life or anything, but like in a movie or a TV show or something I watched in a dream. Do you know what I mean?"

"Uh, yeah, sort of," Frisk said vaguely unable to lie to Burgerpants as he did with Mettaton.

"Now, that I think about it, it almost feels like déjà-vu," Burgerpants said. "Talking to you feels like déjà-vu, too. I feel like we have almost met before."

As Frisk stood there staring at the ground, Burgerpants' suspicions began to grow and he finally asked, "Have we?"

Frisk didn't know how to respond and he didn't feel like lying anymore, so he said, "Yes, we have. I can go back in time using blood magic and my own determination."

"So, that's why you have the scars?"

"Yeah, I wanted to give you guys the perfect ending, but I always kept screwing it up. I haven't hurt anyone this time but I tried again a few days ago and almost committed suicide when it didn't work. My family saved me and God took that ability away from me. Now, I have to get everything right. I've never been able to get past Mettaton, so now, that's what I have to do."

"Did you ever kill me?"

"No, you always sold me food to help me keep my strength up. You always helped me. Even in the run where I almost killed everyone, you still helped me because Mettaton wouldn't allow you to leave work to flee with the others."

Burgerpants went silent as he took in all that he just heard. Frisk feared the worst.

"Burgerpants, I'm sorry," Frisk said pushing open the door. "If you hate me forever, fine, but I would still really like you to remain my friend. God has taught me that it's impossible to go on without the love of other people in your life, and I need all the help I can get to stay a good person. Whatever you think of me, I'm going to keep making things right."

Frisk walked through the door and let it swing shut behind him. He walked forward with his head held high only looking back for a second to see if Burgerpants was following him. He wasn't.

Oh, well. It didn't matter. Frisk had work to do, and an indie song his mother and he had played long ago came to his mind to do just that.

"Oh, hey, Frisk," Inferno said upon seeing Frisk walk backstage. "Where's Burgerpants?"

"We got in a fight," Frisk said simply. "I don't think he wants to play on-stage with me anymore."

"Oh, no," Inferno replied. "Do you want me to talk to him?"

"No," Frisk said. "I'm okay with performing alone."

"Alright, then. Are you ready to go on-stage?"

"Yes."

"Then, follow me."

Frisk smiled confidently as he followed Inferno back to the stage while the latter was on the phone with Mettaton.

Frisk looked out at the audience and took a deep breath.

"Alright, Frisk," Inferno said. "Mettaton said you could get yourself on-stage after he gives his introduction."

"Okay," Frisk replied as he took a step towards the stage before Inferno placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Whatever it is you're planning, I'm behind you all the way," Inferno said. "The rest of the crew is, too."

"Thanks," Frisk said before he walked to the stage to sit down at his piano.

As soon as he did, Mettaton came back on-screen.

"Welcome back, beauties and gentlebeauties!" Mettaton said from the other side of the colored-tile obstacle course. "Thank you so much for your patience! Now's the time for my lovely contestants to cross the tile puzzle! So, without any further ado, I ask you, Mr. and Mrs. Skeleton. Are you ready?!"

"Hell yeah!" Undyne replied in annoyance. "We've been ready forever!"

"Yeah," Papyrus said confidently. "I, the Great Papyrus, can do this puzzle in my sleep. Bring it!"

"Okay, but before we begin, are you sure that you don't want me to take the violin from you?" Mettaton asked. "It might get damaged in this challenge…"

"No way!" Papyrus interrupted. "My wife and I are giving this violin to Frisk! You can't have it!"

"I told you to cut the wife thing," Undyne said under her breath.

"Whatever you say, Mr. Skeleton," Mettaton said. "Now, I know you have managed the colored-tile puzzle before, so I don't need to bother explaining the rules."

"Correct," Papyrus replied briefly before he and Undyne exchanged proud smirks.

"Then, let the challenge begin!" Mettaton said to much fanfare. "For this stage's musical accompaniment, I give you my son, Frisk!"

The spotlight turned on Frisk back on the stage at the studio. It was time.

He took the microphone and said, "I'm not your son!"

"What?" Mettaton asked in surprise.

"This song is dedicated to my real family, the ones who have helped me the most," Frisk said into the microphone with a smile as he began playing the opening piano chords to one of his favorite indie ballads.

"What is this?" Mettaton asked but no sooner did he open his mouth than did Undyne purposefully hop onto a green tile with Papyrus following suit.

"Hey, pretty boy!" Undyne taunted. "It's time to fight!"

Back on stage, Frisk sang, "You heard my voice. I came out of the woods by choice. Shelter also gave their shade, but in the dark, I had no name."

From back at Toriel's house, Sans watched the performance with a smile.

Frisk continued playing piano chords and sang, "So leave that click in my head, and I will remember the words that you said. Left a clouded mind and a heavy heart, but I am sure we could see a new start…"

Mettaton continued listening to Frisk's performance, but between avoiding Undyne's spears and Papyrus' bones, there was nothing he could do to react. That little brat had planned this.

After playing a few different chords, Frisk sang, "So when your hope's on fire but you know your desire. Don't hold a glass over the flame. Don't let your heart grow cold. I will call you by name. I will share your road."

Frisk began playing his chords faster. As he did, he heard the sound of a drum accompanying him. Frisk looked over and saw Burgerpants playing on-stage next to him. He looked over to him in confusion without messing up his chords and Burgerpants responded with a smile and a wink.

"But hold me fast," Frisk sang into the microphone. "Hold me fast 'cause I'm a hopeless wanderer! And hold me fast! Hold me fast 'cause I'm a hopeless wanderer."

For the several measures of instrumental music, these two had together Frisk shed his happy tears and let himself smile before they continued.

"I wrestle on with my youth," Frisk sang as Napstablook and Alphys watched on his phone while riding with River and Calibri on the boat. "We tried so hard to live in the truth. But do not tell me all is fine! When I lose my head, I lose my spine!"

Napstablook smiled and felt his determination growing with Frisk's during the next few instrumental measures.

"So, leave that click in my head!" Frisk sang. "And I will remember the words that you said! You brought me out from the cold! Now, how I long, how I long to grow old!"

Papyrus and Undyne continued listening to the monitors while listening to Frisk play and sing. Papyrus paused a moment to smile at his little brother while unbeknownst to him his mother was watching him on her desktop computer.

"So, when your hope's on fire, but you know your desire," Frisk sang. "Don't hold a glass over the flame. Don't let your heart grow cold. I will call you by name. I will share your road."

Burgerpants followed Frisk's rhythm more closely as he played the song's final instrumental part.

"But hold me fast," Frisk sang with a dramatic pause. "Hold me fast 'cause I'm a hopeless wanderer. And hold me fast. Hold me fast 'cause I'm a hopeless wanderer! And I will learn! I will learn to love the skies I'm under. And I will learn! I will learn to love the skies I'm under! The skies I'm under!"

Frisk finished out with the song's quick and upbeat instrumental portion to the applause of a cheering crowd. But when he was done playing, he turned to smile back at Burgerpants.


	94. Chapter 94

"Thanks for having my back!" Frisk said quietly as Burgerpants walked over to his little buddy and gave him a side hug.

"No problem, little dude," Burgerpants replied. "Don't worry about anything, alright? You've paid for your mistakes already. Now, we have to make Mettaton pay for his. After all, the bastard made me stay behind with a vengeful maniac."

Frisk's eyes darted away in shame before Burgerpants placed his hand on his shoulder. Frisk looked up in time for Burgerpants to give him a wink.

"They're gonna stop cheerin' eventually, little buddy," Burgerpants said. "We have to find something to play. Just look at the ratings."

To Frisk's dismay, the ratings had raised by 200 points. The ratings were at 10,000, and the fight still raged on the monitor screen behind him.

"Oh, crap," Frisk said quietly. "Burgerpants, what are we going to do? The ratings only got higher."

"We need to play something offensive, Frisk," Burgerpants said. "Something that will disgust them all so much that they'll leave without a second thought. Do you know any offensive songs? Like something that'll really piss people off?"

"Oh, yeah," Frisk said. "My Mom loved playing dark songs. She also taught me how to play them under the condition that I wouldn't share them with other people until I got older."

"Well, you're older now. Aren't you?" Burgerpants said with a smile.

"Yep," Frisk said. "And I know just which one to play. It's a song called 'Dirty Night Clowns.' Have you ever heard of it?"

"No."

"Well, my mom said it was about a pedophile who got away with his crime."

Burgerpants stared at Frisk in shock as the audience died down some more.

"What?" Frisk responded in confusion. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Frisk, do you know what a pedophile is?" Burgerpants asked in concern.

"Uh, yeah," Frisk said in annoyance. "I know what a pedophile is. I'm not stupid. What about it?"

"What do you think a pedophile is?" Burgerpants asked nervously.

"It's a sick person who wants to date kids and be romantic with them even though they're too old for them," Frisk replied sassily. "Duh."

"Oh, okay," Burgerpants said breathing a sigh of relief.

"Why did you ask?"

"Uh, don't worry about it, kid."

"Do you think it'll offend people?"

"Oh, it'll offend people," Burgerpants replied. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah!" Frisk said. "I'll gesture to you when I want you to play. You just need one drum for this one."

"Whatever you say, kid," Burgerpants said getting back to his seat. "Let me know when you're ready."

Frisk gave Burgerpants a thumbs up and went back to his piano bench. The audience took that as a cue to quiet down so Frisk could perform again.

Frisk smiled at the camera and said, "This next song reminds me of Mettaton."

Burgerpants' expression twisted in horror as Frisk played the opening whimsical yet serious harmony that grew more complex with every play.

Nonetheless, Burgerpants went along with him when Frisk gestured towards him with his head to play along to be the song's underlying rhythm.

When Burgerpants had played the drum for several measures, Frisk began to sing, "Pick me up. Hose me down. I'm sorry, boys, about the dirty night clowns. The Earth does break the things that we make like model planes and cuppy cakes."

Frisk played a few instrumental measures before he gestured to Burgerpants to stop drumming and continued singing, "I can't clear the leaves from here. They're too far under the brush this year. I can't clear the leaves from here. They're too far under the brush this year."

Frisk nodded his head signaling Burgerpants to play again and continued singing, "Let them be buried, buried alive, in their suits, in their ties. Trees that shade the moves that they made, in their suits, in their ties. Let them be buried, buried alive, in their suits, in their ties. You're safe here now. You're in the clear. Now, we'll eat soup and apple pies."

Frist gestured to Burgerpants to stop playing again so he could sing the chorus, "I can't clear the leaves from here. They're too far under the brush this year. I can't clear the leaves from here. They're too far under the brush this year."

Burgerpants started playing again without Frisk having to gesture to him and the latter continued singing, "I will never be…dirt-free. Up the stairs come find me. Come sneak up behind me. I'll be sleeping soundly. L-i-i-ike a baby!"

Frisk gestured for Burgerpants to stop playing while he played several chords to let the message sink in. Despite the hatred he felt towards Mettaton, Burgerpants had a really bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Frisk gestured for Burgerpants to play again and started singing while his chords returned to being as simple as they were in the beginning, "La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. La-da-da-da-da-da-da! La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. La-da-da-da-da-da-da!"

Frisk took his hands off the piano signaling Burgerpants to do the same as he sang the closing acapella, "I can't clear the leaves from here. They're too far under the brush this year."

Frisk played the song's closing harmony while Burgerpants followed along with the song's closing melody.

When Frisk finished playing, he stood up expecting a chorus of disgusted boos but instead found to his disappointment that everyone was applauding. Well, everyone in the audience.

Burgerpants, Inferno, Mettaton, Undyne, Sans, Toriel, Alphys, River, Calibri, and Napstablook all had their mouths hanging agape in their respective locations.

"Undyne?" Papyrus asked innocently from the battlefield. "What's the matter?"


	95. Chapter 95

As the clapping continued, Burgerpants took Frisk aside and said, "Frisk, would you do us all a favor and never use that song to describe anyone again?"

"Why?" Frisk asked. "Mettaton lied to me and took me away from everybody, so that's like what a pedophile does. Isn't it?"

Burgerpants facepalmed and said, "No, no, no, no, no, Frisk, a pedophile is a person who does much worse things than that. Being a pedophile is a really, really, really bad thing, and as much of a jackass Mettaton is, even he does not deserve to be called something that terrible. Okay?"

"Okay," Frisk conceded. "That song didn't work anyway. I don't understand why. If a pedophile is such a terrible person, why hasn't everyone started booing me yet for singing a song about it?"

Burgerpants thought for a moment before saying, "I don't know, kid. Maybe it's because it was too subtle."

"Too subtle?"

"Yeah, I mean the imagery in the lyrics is obvious to anyone listening, but Mettaton's fans aren't the type of people who are used to being deep thinkers if you know what I mean."

"You mean, like they're idiots?"

"I wouldn't go that far, but they like to turn their minds off when they watch him. They're used to his show being just mindless entertainment."

"So, the imagery went over their heads?" Frisk asked.

"Exactly," Burgerpants replied. "What we need is a song that is blunter."

"That means obvious, right?" Frisk asked.

"More like direct, but that's close enough," Burgerpants replied shrugging his shoulders. "Do you know any blunt songs?"

"Uh…" Frisk said for a moment before remembering another song. "Yeah, I remember a song! It's both disturbing and blunt! It's about a serial killer."

"Perfect!" Burgerpants replied turning to go back to his seat before Frisk interrupted him. "Just cue me in like you did before."

"It doesn't have a percussion part though," Frisk said placing his hand on his shoulder to stop him from walking. "It's a sad piano piece. Is that alright?"

"Sure," Burgerpants replied with a smile pulling out his box of cigarettes. "Could use a break anyway. I'll be right off-stage to your left if ya need me, little buddy."

With that, Burgerpants stepped off-stage while Frisk made his way back to the piano bench. Burgerpants nodded to Inferno gratefully as he stepped aside to make room for him and allowed him to light the cigarette with his flames.

The audience died down completely as Frisk played the contemplative, melancholic opening chords to his next song.

Then, Frisk started singing sadly, "His father was a drinker, and his mother cried in bed, folding John Wayne's t-shirts when the swing set hit his head."

Burgerpants paused when Frisk sang, "The neighbors, they adored him, for his humor and his conversation. Look underneath the house there. Find the few living things, rotting fast, in their sleep. Oh, the dead."

Burgerpants looked at Frisk with knowing sadness as he continued singing, "27 people. Even more, they were boys, with their cars, summer jobs. Oh, my God! Oooooooooooh! Are you one of them?"

Frisk found himself choking up and felt the tears falling on his hands. He was not the man in the song, but he might as well be. It took him a moment to be able to continue.

The sorrow was not lost on the audience.

"He dressed up like a clown for them, with his face paint white and red," Frisk sang with a growing intensity despite the tears running down his face. "And on his best behavior, in a dark room on the bed, he kissed them all. He'd kill 10,000 people, with a slight of his hand, running far, running fast to the dead! He took off all their clothes for them. He put a cloth on their lips, quiet hands, quiet kiss on the mooooouth!"

"What an emotional performance," Inferno said quietly in ignorant amazement.

Burgerpants only nodded and puffed his cigarette while struggling to hold back tears himself.

Frisk silently thanked God that the piano chords were repetitive. The tears blinding his eyes were making it hard to see the piano as he sang the last lyrics.

"And in my best behavior, I'm really just like him," Frisk sang. "Look beneath the floor boards, for the secrets I have hid."

Frisk stopped playing his chords and quietly breathed into the microphone to complete the song.

Burgerpants looked at Frisk contemplatively before turning away to puff on his cigarette. He smiled when he realized the audience was being silent and peaked his head out from behind the curtain to check the audience's ratings.

Frisk started wiping the tears off on his sweater when to his and Burgerpants' surprise the audience erupted in thunderous applause.

"What?!" Burgerpants and Frisk yelled simultaneously.

Frisk hopped off his piano bench and ran to the front of the stage to check the rating's board. His mouth dropped open when he realized that his points had actually risen by 2,000 for his stunning emotional performance.

Frisk could not believe it. Neither could his family watching the spectacle.

Frisk had to get some air, so he ran back to his microphone and said, "I'll be right back!" before running to Burgerpants off-stage.

Burgerpants tossed his cigarette in the trash as Frisk said, "What is going on, Burgerpants? I don't get it!"

Recognizing Frisk's level of stress, Burgerpants took Frisk's hand, yelled to Inferno, "Hey! Tell the boss we're on break! The kid needs some air!" and teleported outside to the beach before getting a response.

Once safely outside, Burgerpants lit another cigarette as Frisk continued ranting, "I don't get it! This makes no damn sense! Why don't they freakin' hate me yet?! I thought singing all these inappropriate songs would make them all hate me, but the ratings haven't gone down one bit! I've done it all! I've referenced alcohol. I called Mettaton a pedophile. I basically just confessed in song that I was a serial killer! Yet, they love me more?! I don't understand! What the hell am I doing wrong, Burgerpants?!"

"You're too good a performer, Frisk," Burgerpants said taking a break from puffing on his cigarette. "Your playing and singing are stellar. The audience doesn't care about the words your singing. You perform with so much skill and so much passion that they can't help but love you. We might need to come up with a new plan."

"Dammit," Frisk said angrily. "Why do I have to be so talented?!"

Just then, Burgerpants noticed River and his passengers waving from the boat as it ran by the shore.

The group could hardly contain their excitement. Alphys and Calibri hopped off the boat and ran up to Frisk while River parked the boat.

Napstablook teleported in front of Frisk first.

"Frisk, are you alright?" Napstablook asked calmly and gently. "You look upset."

Before Frisk could speak, Alphys and Calibri cut in front of him.

"Frisk! Frisk!" Alphys yelled trying to catch her breath. "We have been talking and we have an idea on how we might beat Mettaton!"

"LISTEN TO THIS," Calibri signed. "IT'S AMAZING!"

Napstablook phased through the two monsters in front of him, looked at Frisk in concern, and said, "Frisk, are you okay? You don't look so good."

Frisk's face fell completely as he walked to Napstablook, leaned against his torso, and just moaned.


	96. Chapter 96

After Frisk's last performance, Mettaton freaked out. He sent Papyrus and Undyne straight to the last stage with his trapdoors and took himself back to his dressing room to figure out how to salvage the mess that the little human brat was making.

After putting his body in its charger, Mettaton started pacing/floating around the room in his ghostly form while nervously checking his phone. Much to his surprise, the ratings were not dropping at all. They were growing and surpassing his wildest expectations.

Mettaton's mouth curled into a smile as he sat back in his vanity chair and put his phone in its charger. Everything was going swimmingly. The boy was a natural performer. Together, they would go places.

His ringing phone interrupted his thoughts of grandeur. Mettaton looked over to check who was calling and felt his mouth drop open in surprise. It was Blooky.

Blooky hadn't called since…Mettaton couldn't remember. He picked up the phone with his ghostly hand and answered without hesitation.

"Blooky?" Mettaton asked. "Blooky, is it really you? It's been so long."

"Hapsta," Napstablook began nervously. "Hapsta, I…We need to talk."

"Of course, Blooky," Mettaton replied settling into his chair. "What about?"

Napstablook took a deep, anxious breath and answered, "It's about Frisk."

"What?" Mettaton replied sitting up in surprise.

"You…you have gone too far with all this," Napstablook said as bravely as he could. "You've taken Frisk from his family, put innocent people in horrible danger, bullied Frisk almost to the point of a psychotic break, and betrayed Alphys. Don't say you didn't. I know the truth. Frisk told me everything…"

"Blooky…" Mettaton interrupted.

"Don't interrupt me!" Napstablook snapped. "I'm not finished! I can't believe what you've done, Hapsta! You've completely changed! The Hapsta I knew would never have done this…"

"Blooky, listen…" Mettaton said attempting to pacify his cousin.

"No, you listen to me!" Napstablook continued fueled by sadness that had turned into anger. "I was willing to forgive you when you left me to become a celebrity! I was willing to forgive you for not calling me! I was even willing to forgive you for cutting me out of your life! But if you don't call this whole ridiculous contest off right now and let Frisk return to his family, I will NEVER forgive you!"

Mettaton was speechless for a moment. That was the first time his cousin had ever dared to speak to him like that. He couldn't believe it. Frisk had turned his own cousin against him. That little brat…

"I'm doing what I must to make the Underground a better place!" Mettaton replied defensively. "If you ever left your house, you would understand that! Monsters need someone like me and Frisk to inspire them!"

"Yeah, right! You're just doing this to stroke your own ego and make everyone think you're awesome when you're just being a jerk!" Napstablook retorted angrily. "YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYONE BUT YOURSELF!"

"So, you're siding with that human brat over me now?!" Mettaton snapped back. "I can't believe it! The Blooky I knew would never betray me like this! What has happened to the sweet cousin I loved?!"

Napstablook was silent for a moment. Mettaton could hear him breathing in aggravation as a tense silence formed between them.

Napstablook broke that silence when he finally responded, "He grew up. He found the courage to do the right thing. You should try it some time."

"Ha! You're no hero, Blooky," Mettaton replied cruelly. "You are a coward and always will be. You have never had any guts, and you never will."

Napstablook scoffed and said, "That makes two of us then. Doesn't it?"

Then the line went silent. Napstablook had hung up. Mettaton sat there feeling the sting of his cousin's words.


	97. Chapter 97

Napstablook wiped a few angry tears away and stared at his phone in disbelief for a second. He couldn't believe what he had just done. He had just told off his cousin. Surely now, Napstablook would be all alone…

The ghost's thoughts were interrupted when he felt Frisk giving him a side hug. Napstablook looked down through his angry tears to see the human child looking back up at him. Frisk gave Napstablook a knowing look of sympathy and continued hugging him as the latter tightly hugged him back. He wasn't alone anymore.

"Move forward with the plan," Napstablook said.

"Hell, yes," Calibri whispered hoarsely.

"Vengeance shall be ours," River added giving his son a high five.

"I'm already excited," Burgerpants replied. "What do we do first?"

"OUR PLAN IS CALLED OPERATION HUMILIATION," Calibri signed.

"What do you mean?" Frisk asked.

"FRISK, WE'VE BEEN WATCHING YOUR SHOW," Calibri signed. "THE AUDIENCE ABSOLUTELY ADORES YOU. THEY CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF YOU. THEY LOVE YOU SO MUCH THAT THEY STARTED TURNING ON METTATON JUST FOR GIVING YOU A HARD TIME ABOUT THAT RAGTIME PIECE. SO, WHAT IF WE DID SOMETHING TO PUSH METTATON COMPLETELY OFF THE RAILS?"

"Are you crazy?" Frisk replied. "He'll send me to an asylum!"

"No, he won't," Alphys finally spoke up. "Because he'll be dealing with a public relations disaster."

"How?" Frisk asked confusedly.

"I'm with the kid on this one," Burgerpants replied.

"To put it simply, we're going to subject Mettaton to the humiliation of his life," River said patiently. "Dr. Alphys is going to add a covert video surveillance app into your phone. After that, we are going to perform a song that offends Mettaton so much that he snaps and has no choice but to intervene. Then when he does, the app will live stream Mettaton's cruelty to everyone in the studio and those who subscribe to any of his streaming content."

"Understand now?" Alphys asked.

Frisk smiled and said, "Hell, yes! That sounds amazing! And you'll go on stage with me to do it? Even if you get in trouble?"

"Of course," River said. "Don't worry. We aren't just doing it for you. You're not the only who has had it with Mettaton, Frisk."

"YEAH," Calibri signed. "I'VE WANTED TO GET BACK AT HIM FOR YEARS."

"You have only worked with Mettaton for 11 months, Calibri," River retorted.

"IT FELT LIKE AN ETERNITY, DAD," Calibri replied. "TRUST ME."

Frisk's smile disappeared when he remembered Alphys. Mettaton was her greatest creation. He meant so much to her, and Frisk was about to mess all that up.

"Alphys?" Frisk asked. "Are you sure you're okay with this? Uh…Sans told me how important Mettaton was to you and…"

Alphys held her hand up, gave Frisk an understanding smile, and said, "It's fine, Frisk. I can build another one. I'll be okay. Honestly, I will be. After talking to Napstablook, I have realized that someone helping you out doesn't give them the right to be a jerk. I have let Mettaton push me around for too long. I won't put up with it anymore."

Frisk looked at Alphys curiously. Something told him that she understood more of where he was coming from than she let on. When he didn't break his stare, Alphys gave Frisk an awkward wink that only confused him more.

"Anyway," Alphys said. "Give me your phone, Frisk."

"Oh, yeah," Frisk said reaching into his pocket and handing his phone to Alphys. "Here, you go."

"It'll just be a few minutes," Alphys said pressing a bunch of buttons while walking away from the group to concentrate on what she was doing.

"Alrighty then," Burgerpants said triumphantly lighting a cigarette. "Now, what song do we perform?"

Frisk's smiled disappeared.

"Oh, shit," Frisk said. "I have no idea where to begin. It has to be something super offensive, but I don't know which one to choose. All the songs I've chosen have been super-offensive so far, but not enough to piss off Mettaton."

"We could just choose a song from one of Calibri's playlists," River said as Calibri pulled out his phone. "I know you'll find some offensive songs in there. I've memorized most of them by this point. He used to play them at full blast when he was 'doing his homework.' You'd think he was deaf."

"LOVE YOU TOO, DAD," Calibri signed as he scrolled through his list.

"Oh, crap," Frisk said. "That's another problem. I probably won't know any of these songs. I can use my determination to remember songs I've performed in the past, but I can't learn something new this quickly and you guys won't know any of the songs from the surface that I do. So, I'd have to perform by myself and just make the audience love me more. This isn't going to work."

"Don't say that, Frisk," Napstablook said. "Putting his hand on Frisk's shoulder. You got this far. Besides, a good deal of music from the surface has made its way down here. You'll probably recognize more than you think. As long as it's something politically-incorrect and not family-friendly in the slightest, it'll be sure to offend my cousin."

"That's all it takes to offend him?" Burgerpants asked with a smirk after taking a puff of his cigarette. "This'll be a piece of cake."

"ALRIGHT," Calibri signed handing his phone to his father so he could sign. "WE ALL NEED TO SIT DOWN AND PICK SOMETHING OUT. FRISK, DID YOUR PARENTS EVER TEACH YOU HOW TO PLAY METAL?"

"My parents preferred grunge, but there were some 90's metal bands that they liked enough to teach me their songs," Frisk replied. "Do you know any 90's metal bands?"

"He knows every metal band ever made," River said sarcastically as he handed his son his phone back.

"Well, almost," Calibri whispered hoarsely. "Let's see."

The five of them sat down and watched Calibri scroll through band names.

"I don't recognize any of these bands," Burgerpants complained.

"OF COURSE, YOU DON'T, YA NORMIE," Calibri signed with one hand while scrolling with the other.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Burgerpants asked.

"Oh, I know that one," Napstablook said pointing to the screen.

"I don't," Frisk said. "I don't recognize a single band…Wait! My parents loved Nine Inch Nails."

"Really?" Napstablook asked in surprise.

"Well, they wouldn't let me listen to a lot of their music," Frisk said. "They said it was 'inappropriate.' I'm not sure why. They would listen to it to help them concentrate when they were having wrestling matches in their room."

"Wrestling matches?" River asked.

"Yeah, some nights, every week or so, they would have naked wrestling matches under their sheets, and they never let me participate," Frisk said in annoyance. "I don't know why. They sounded like they were having fun."

There was an awkward silence in the group for a second as everyone stopped what they were doing to look at Frisk.

"What?" Frisk asked.

"MOVING ON," Calibri signed to change the subject. "NINE INCH NAILS HAS SOME EXTREMELY INAPPROPRIATE SONGS. WE CAN'T USE THEM."

"But isn't that what we're looking for?" Frisk asked confusedly.

Calibri paused awkwardly searching for an explanation before Napstablook mercifully interrupted, "But you said you didn't learn to play any of those. They wouldn't work anyway."

"Yeah," Frisk said allowing the group to breathe a subconscious sigh of relief. "I guess that's true…Wait! Stop! Was that Tool?"

"YEAH," Calibri signed. "YOU KNOW TOOL?"

"Oh, yeah," Frisk said. "My parents loved them, not as much as Pearl Jam or Nirvana, but enough to teach me several of their songs. I didn't know they were a metal band."

"WHAT DID YOU THINK THEY WERE?" Calibri signed.

"I don't know," Frisk retorted. "Alternative?"

"Such a newb," Calibri said as he facepalmed.

"Be nice," River chided.

"ANYWAY," Calibri signed. "WHICH SONGS DID YOUR PARENTS TEACH YOU?"

"Well," Frisk replied. "I remember 'Sweat.'"

"That one's not edgy enough," Napstablook surprisingly replied.

"YOU KNOW TOOL?" Calibri signed.

"I dabbled in metal a bit in high school," Napstablook replied.

"Prison Sex?" Frisk read from the phone.

"NO!" everyone said at once.

"Alright, geez," Frisk said in annoyance as he continued reading from the list. "How about 'Sober?' I did learn that one, well, the censored version."

"That one's good, but you already sang a song about alcoholism," Napstablook replied. "Didn't you? You don't want to be redundant."

"Who cares if it's redundant if it's effective?" Frisk asked before he finally saw the perfect song on the list. "Guys, I've found the perfect one!"

"THAT ONE?" Calibri signed selecting the song for everyone to listen to.

"Yeah," Frisk said. "My parents taught me the censored version of this one, too."

The others were skeptical as they listened to the beginning, but as soon as the chorus began, their faces all lit up in devious smiles.


	98. Chapter 98

About ten minutes later, Frisk and his buddies were raiding Mettaton's storage rooms to find supplies for their upcoming performance while Alphys sat against the wall next to the door putting the finishing touches on Frisk's phone.

"I found more scary make-up," Napstablook said coming back with a box. "I also found all the sound equipment I think I need."

"Oooh, let me see!" Frisk said as Napstablook put the box down.

Frisk began pulling make-up out of the box and smiled in devious joy.

"Oh, man," Frisk said gleefully picking up each item to look at. "Stage blood. Black eye shadow. Black lipstick. This is gonna be great! I don't even know where to begin."

"It doesn't matter," Napstablook said. "As long as you look super scary, my cousin is going to be pissed. It doesn't have to look good at all."

"Do you think I should just smash it all together and rub it all over my face?" Frisk asked.

Napstablook laughed for a solid minute. Frisk stood there and began laughing with him.

It was about a solid minute before Napstablook could speak and said, "I don't know. Maybe. This is going to be so much fun! I haven't laughed like this in such a long time."

Frisk's smile disappeared for a moment as he said, "I'm sorry about all this. I know you and Mettaton used to be close. You must be so hurt having to go against your cousin like this…"

Napstablook put his hand on Frisk's shoulder and interrupted, "Actually, I feel relieved. I have been wanting to say those things to my cousin for such a long time, but I was always too afraid to. That was the main reason I felt so awful. That is until I met you. It's because of you that I had the courage to finally stand up to him. Now, I feel great! I really can't thank you enough, Frisk."

Frisk smiled and hugged Napstablook. As he did that, he felt his HP raise by another point. The ghost smiled, too.

"Your HP is at 19 now, Frisk," Napstablook said happily. "You're almost all healed. You can get your backpack soon."

"Yeah, that's right," Frisk said. "I can…"

Unfortunately, that was when the group heard a knock on the door. Everyone went silent in fear as Burgerpants quickly ran over to answer the door.

"Who is it?" Burgerpants asked as calmly as he could.

"Burgerpants? It's me, Inferno," Inferno's voice answered from the other side of the door to the collective sighs of relief of everyone in the storeroom.

"Oh," Burgerpants answered calmly. "What's up?"

"Well, I hate to interrupt whatever you all are doing in there," Inferno said apologetically. "I really do, but Mettaton called me and told me that he wants Frisk to perform on stage again while he took a break."

Everyone stood there dumbfounded for a moment until River loudly whispered for Burgerpants to get his attention.

Burgerpants and everyone else turned around to look at River who gestured towards his son.

"IS METTATON HERE?!" Calibri signed. "ASK INFERNO IF HE'S HERE."

Burgerpants nodded and said to Inferno, "Is Mettaton here?"

"Yes," Inferno answered apologetically. "He's hanging out in his dressing room."

"Shit," everyone heard Calibri mutter under his breath. "Now, what?"

"Hey," Napstablook whispered quietly. "Will Mettaton be on-stage with him?"

Burgerpants turned to the door and said, "Hey, Inferno! Will Mettaton be on-stage with him?"

"No, Mettaton needs to let his suit charge for a while," Inferno reassured. "He won't be on-stage when Frisk performs."

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief as Frisk stood up and yelled, "I'll be right there! Just let me find a guitar!"

Before Frisk could even turn around, Calibri was standing in front of his holding just the guitar he needed.

Frisk took the instrument and smiled up to Calibri as he signed, "ROCK ON, LITTLE DUDE! WE'LL BE RIGHT HERE!"

Frisk smiled as he took the guitar, nodded to him, smiled at Napstablook, and yelled back to Inferno, "Alright, I have the guitar! We're coming!"

Frisk walked over to the door. Burgerpants started to follow him, but Calibri put his hand on his shoulder.

As soon as Burgerpants turned around, Calibri signed, "DO NOT LET METTATON HURT HIM AGAIN. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO. JUST DON'T LET IT HAPPEN."

"Don't have to tell me twice," Burgerpants whispered back quickening his pace to catch up with Frisk.

Frisk reached the door and whispered to Alphys, "Is it ready yet?"

"Yes, thankfully," Alphys said handing the phone back to Frisk. "There are some updates I'd like to talk to you about as soon as you get back, so be sure you get back. Okay?"

"Okay," Frisk whispered sliding the phone into his pocket and cracking open the door just wide enough for himself and Burgerpants to slip through.

"Alrighty," Inferno said willfully oblivious to all the action going on in the storage room. "Let's go. The amp is already set up on-stage for you."

The trio quickly made it back to the stage.

Frisk was considerably calmer knowing what they were planning, so he simply walked back on-stage to the applause of the entire audience. Frisk plugged in his guitar as Inferno brought him the microphone and a water bottle.

"Whenever you're ready, Frisk," Inferno said before he dashed off the stage.

Frisk looked at Burgerpants who was giving him a thumbs up from the stage's left wing. Mettaton was not present, so far, so good. This would be a cinch.

"The next song I'm performing is another one from Nirvana," Frisk said calmly into his mic as the audience finally started to die down. "This one is really special because it's one that my Dad taught me in one night so that we could send a video of us performing to my Mom while she was in…"

Frisk visibly hesitated in a way that caught Mettaton's interest from his dressing room as he watched on his phone, "the hospital. Anyway, I hope you like it. It's called 'Lithium.'"

Frisk began played the mellow yet reflective opening riff and started to sing as the memory of him performing with his Dad after that horrible day at school flashed back through his mind, "I'm so happy because today I've found my friends. They're in my head. I'm so ugly, but that's okay, 'cause so are you. We broke our mirrors. Sunday morning is every day for all I care. And I'm not scared. Light my candles in a daze 'cause I've found God!"

His Mom had been getting rehabilitated for a while. His parents returned to the faith of their youth and began attending services at the holy place with their friends. Frisk didn't mind. On Sunday mornings, they got to see his Mom. It was a bittersweet time, a time of healing but of separation. Even if the last part was temporary, it was still hard on Frisk and more so on his Dad than he realized at the time.

The simple riff changed for the more energized chorus as Frisk began remembering the tears going down his father's face while he sang, "Yeah! Yeah! Yeeeaaaaaahhhhhhhhh! Yeah! Yeah! Yeeeeaaaaah!" over and over again before returning back to the simpler riff for the song's next part.

"I'm so happy, but that's okay, I shaved my head, and I'm not sad," Frisk continued remembering the sincerity behind his Dad's eyes. "And just maybe I'm to blame for all I've heard. But I'm not sure. I'm so excited. I can't wait to meet you there. But I don't care. I'm so horny. But that's okay. My will is good! Yeah! Yeah! Yeaaaaahhhhhhhh!"

Mettaton spat out his wine in shock while Frisk sang the chorus and studied Frisk's expressions as he continued the chorus's melody with the next lyrics.

"I like it, I'm not gonna crack," Frisk sang.

Frisk suddenly remembered the tears forming at the corners of his Dad's eyes as he sang this part and didn't notice the tears involuntarily forming at the corner of his eyes as he continued, "I miss you, I'm not gonna crack. I love you, I'm not gonna crack. I killed you, I'm not gonna crack. I like it, I'm not gonna crack. I miss you, I'm not gonna crack. I love you, I'm not gonna crack. I killed you, I'm not gonna crack."

The chorus's emotionally-charged melody transitioned back to the chorus as Frisk followed along with the performance as he saw it in his memory, "I'm so happy 'cause today I've found my friends. They're in my head. I'm so ugly. But that's okay, 'cause so are you. Broke our mirrors. Sunday morning is every day for all I care, and I'm not scared. Light my candles in a daze 'cause I've found God! Yeah! Yeah! Yeeaaaahhh!"

Frisk effortless transitioned back to the chorus. From his dressing room, Mettaton watched with a twisted smile on his face having learned something new about his new son.

"I like it! I'm not gonna crack!" Frisk sang passionately knowing that his parents were watching. "I miss you! I'm not gonna crack! I love you! I'm not gonna crack! I killed you! I'm not gonna crack! I like it! I'm not gonna crack! I miss you! I'm not gonna crack! I love you! I'm not gonna crack! I killed you! I'm not gonna…crack!"

Frisk finished playing and took his bow. He stood up and smiled proudly knowing that his parents were proud.

At least, until he heard some annoying slow clapping coming from stage left.

"Bravo!" the familiar flamboyant voice cheered.

Frisk felt his heart drop as he heard Mettaton EX strut over to him on the stage. Nevertheless, he didn't show any fear but looked up at him in annoyance and smirked. Frisk knew the perfect Nirvana song for the perfect getaway.

"And he's the one who likes all our pretty songs," Frisk sang sassily into the microphone while unplugging his guitar and strutting mockingly around the robot while heading off-stage. "And he likes to sing along. And he likes to shoot his gun. But he knows not what it means! Knows not what it means when I say…"

Mettaton snatched the microphone out of Frisk's hands and said, "What a lovely repertoire of songs you have there, son."

"I'm not your son!" Frisk retorted walking off-stage over to Burgerpants without even looking back at him. "You'll never be as good as either of my parents."

"I'd hope not," Mettaton retorted snidely. "Your mother was an addict after all…"

Everyone's mouths fell open in shock.

Frisk turned around in complete disbelief as the audience began to murmur under their breath. Mettaton smiled coldly while Frisk's eyes began to fill with tears. The young human stood there not knowing what to do. He felt his HP drop by one point.

At the hotel, Undyne muttered under her breath, "I'm gonna kill him."

Fortunately, that was when the electricity went out.

"What is going on now?" Mettaton asked in frustration. "Inferno, where are you?"

Frisk looked around in confusion for a moment until he felt a furry paw grab his shoulder and teleport him away.

When they reappeared inside the storage room, Frisk turned around, hugged Burgerpants, and let him hug him back as everyone gathered around them having heard what happened on the broadcast. Everyone stood there silently and let the two have their moment.

"You have nothing to be ashamed of, Frisk," Burgerpants said in an effort to help the human feel better. "You really don't…"

"My Mom was not a slobbering drunk," Frisk said defensively. "She got better!"

"We know, Frisk," Napstablook said rubbing Frisk's back. "Your Mom must have been a really tough lady. I know you're making her proud."

Frisk turned to Napstablook teary-eyed just as they heard the door open and shut quickly. They all turned around to see Inferno huffing in front of the door. His fire was glowing slightly redder than usual.

Everyone stared at him confusedly in awkward silence. No one said anything, so Calibri broke the silence figuratively speaking.

"INFERNO, WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Calibri signed.

"I've had enough of that moron," Inferno replied. "That's what. I cannot believe he just did something so cruel on television no less. I've had enough of him. That's why I knocked out the power…"

"Wait," Frisk said walking up to him. "That was you?!"

"Yes, it was!" Inferno said proudly doing the same. "I'm sorry it took me so long to do it, Frisk. I really am. I was afraid of losing my job and not being able to take care of my wife and kids, but now, I'm don't care. That was the last straw! Mettaton has been nothing but cruel and monstrous to you all day, and I'm not going to stand by and let him humiliate you anymore!"

"Neither will we," said a voice peaking behind the doorway. "We're all on your side, Frisk! Just tell us what to do and we'll humiliate that SOB!"

The door opened to reveal the cameraman and dozens of other crew members.

Inferno smiled at them, then smiled at Frisk, and asked, "What do we do first?"

Frisk and the others smiled deviously in response.


	99. Chapter 99

Mettaton was in a panic. His human child and his staff had disappeared completely. He had searched for them for the past hour, but he couldn't find them anywhere.

Meanwhile, Frisk was at the hotel with Papyrus and Undyne listening to Alphys explain her modifications to Frisk's phone.

"And that's all he has to do?" Undyne asked while Papyrus held Frisk on his shoulders. "You really think it'll work?"

"Yes," Alphys said as confidently as she could muster. "Just press one button and Frisk's phone will broadcast Mettaton's abuse all over the Underground."

"And the phone has a tracker in case things go south, right?" Undyne asked.

"Uh…yes…" Alphys said beginning to show more of her anxiety.

"Hey, Undyne," Frisk interjected as he jumped off Papyrus's back. "You asked her that already. Calm down. Alphys knows what she's doing. She's got me out of this before…"

"I know," Undyne said rubbing her temples. "I…I just really want this to work out the first time. You can't reset anymore, punk. And so, you could die. I don't want to lose you, punk."

"Oh, Undyne, you really need to stop worrying," Papyrus said giving his friend a side hug. "I mean, seriously, stop worrying. I've never seen you worry before. It's weird…"

"Uh, Papyrus, I'm not sure that's helping," Frisk interrupted.

"No, no, Frisk, he's right," Undyne admitted. "I usually never worry about anything, but since Frisk came along, I've been a bag of nerves. I need to do something about it!"

Frisk and Alphys smiled until Undyne said, "I'm going to find Mettaton and beat him up so that I will stop worrying. Violence will solve everything!"

"What?" Papyrus asked. "But the plan…"

"Oh, yeah," Undyne remembered. "When can we start the show? I'm ready to be a kickass security guard already!"

"As soon as everyone finishes their make-up," Frisk said gesturing to his face.

Frisk was wearing black lipstick, black eye-liner, and black eye-shadow on his face. He was wearing no shirt but a black leather and metal-spiked choker around his neck and his black jeans and boots from before.

"Argh!" Undyne yelled stomping the ground. "Why must these men put on make-up? No one will see you! Hurry up and get the show going. I wanna beat up some monsters!"

"Undyne, putting on metal make-up takes time…" Frisk said trying to pacify her.

"I know," Papyrus suggested. "Why don't we help?"

Panic flashed across Frisk's face as he began vehemently shaking his head.

Papyrus quickly understood the message and tried to take it back, "Actually, let's just leave them alone…"

But it was too late.

"That's a great idea, Papyrus!" Undyne yelled as she ran towards the dressing rooms backstage. "I'll show those punks how to put-on make-up!"

Frisk and Papyrus looked at each other in absolute horror.

"That can't be good," Alphys said.

"I don't know Undyne too well, but I think you guys should do something," Napstablook finally said looking up from his work setting up the sound equipment on-stage.

"You're probably right," Papyrus said putting Frisk back on his shoulders and taking off. "Undyne, wait!"

"Run faster, Papyrus!" Frisk yelled.


	100. Chapter 100

The band members stewed in their seats angrily as Papyrus and Frisk surveyed the extent of the damage.

River, Calibri, and Burgerpants looked collectively like their makeup kits had exploded in their faces. There were mismatched splotches of black and red everywhere with no rhyme or reason whatsoever.

Undyne stepped back from her work and smiled as Papyrus and Frisk recoiled in horror.

"Well," Undyne said excitedly. "All done. What do you think?"

Calibri signed, "WE LOOK LIKE YOU ATE THE MAKEUP AND DECIDED TO THROW UP ON US!"

"I'm no expert, Undyne," River said looking in the mirror and calmly studying his reflection. "But I have to agree with my son."

"Yeah, no," Burgerpants agreed simply pulling out a makeup remover on the dressing room table to wipe Undyne's masterpiece off his face before sliding it over to his colleagues so they could do the same thing.

Undyne scoffed, crossed her arms, and said, "Geez! You musicians are such prissy primadonnas!"

Suddenly, Inferno rushed into the dressing room short of breath and yelled, "Guys, we have to get you on-stage now! Mettaton's on his way!"

Everyone froze in a panic and went silent except ironically for Calibri who whispered, "Shit…"

"Alright, everybody, don't panic!" Frisk said. "We're ready! We can do this!"

"Yeah," Papyrus said excitedly. "Let's do this!"

"Okay," River replied pulling his hood over his face and preparing to head on-stage.

"What about us?" Burgerpants asked in a panic.

"Uh…" Frisk said before he came up with an idea. "I know! Wipe it off so that it's just around your eyes. Then, you'll still look super freaky!"

"BUT HOW WILL WE WIPE IT OFF THAT FAST?!" Calibri signed.

Undyne grabbed the box, stuffed her hands with a handful of makeup removal wipes, and said, "Allow me!"

Calibri and Burgerpants audibly gulped as Undyne descended upon their faces with makeup removal wipes.

Frisk, Papyrus, River, and Inferno stood there in dumbfounded horror at Undyne's vigor and strength.

Napstablook teleported into the dressing room.

"The equipment is all set up," the ghost said before he noticed what everyone was looking at. "It's time to…Oh, dear…"

Napstablook stood there next to Frisk as transfixed by what was going on as everyone else was.

"What is she doing to them?" Napstablook asked.

"She's cleaning their faces," Frisk replied.

After another moment of silence, Napstablook said, "If she keeps it up like this, she's going to tear off their faces. Shouldn't we stop her?"

"And face the full force of her fury?" Frisk asked rhetorically.

Napstablook surveyed the situation briefly before he concluded, "Good point."


	101. Chapter 101

Soon, Undyne was done wiping the makeup off Calibri's and Burgerpants's faces, and they all went to the stage.

"Did you have to do it so hard?" Burgerpants complained as he rubbed his face where Undyne had wiped off the makeup.

"I got it off. Didn't I?" Undyne responded authoritatively. "Quit your complaining!"

"Are you feeling alright, my son?" River asked as he walked to the stage gently wiping off his face with a makeup removal wipe. "You're being more quiet than usual. Te he he…"

Calibri smirked at his father with his face now devoid of makeup except for around his eyes and signed without subtitles, "ARE YOU KIDDING, DAD? YOU CHOOSE NOW OF ALL TIMES TO MAKE A DAD JOKE?"

"I was only removing the tension, Calibri," River replied. "I've never seen you so withdrawn."

"I'M JUST PICTURING IT IN MY HEAD, DAD," Calibri signed. "I'M PICTURING THE LOOK ON THAT ASSHOLE'S FACE WHEN HE SEES WHAT WE'VE DONE."

"Me, too," River replied with a smile in his voice. "Me, too."

Calibri then looked at Frisk and smiled.

On the way there, Frisk was riding on Papyrus's shoulders and listening to Calibri's phone as carefully as he could through Napstablook's headphones to make sure he had memorized all the lyrics. He kept his eyes closed to force himself to concentrate.

Frisk was a bit nervous because he had never tried using his determination to remember the lyrics to a song he had just learned before, but the anger and excitement overcame his fear.

Frisk would finally get to stick it to Mettaton, as a pacifist, and not as a killer. He prayed for strength and felt his courage rise enough to finally take off the headphones.

Napstablook flew next to Frisk and asked, "Are you done with these?"

"Yeah," Frisk said before whistling to Calibri and tossing his phone back to him. "I know the song lyrics, or at least, I think I do…"

"Don't doubt yourself now, Frisk," Napstablook said with a smile. "You have no reason to. Your determination got you this far. It's strong enough to do this something this simple."

"Yeah!" Papyrus squealed jumping up in the air. "You got this, little brother!"

"Papyrus…" Frisk chided before Alphys interrupted.

"Everything's set up, you guys," Alphys said. "The crowd's all here. The cameras are out. Mettaton's heading over. It's gonna be great! Frisk, do you have your phone?"

"Yep," Frisk replied confidently pulling out the phone from his pocket. "I'm ready."

"Good!" Inferno said flying over next to Alphys. "Everyone's routing for you, Frisk. Break a leg. We're ready when you are."

Frisk nodded silently as Papyrus set him down on the floor ahead of him.

"Frisk, you want to offer up a prayer," Burgerpants asked.

"Oh, uh, okay," Frisk said feeling pleasantly surprised as he bowed his head. "I've barely done this out loud, but God please help us kick Mettaton's ass but not literally and let us offend the audience as much as possible. Amen."

"That was short," River said.

"I LIKED IT," Calibri signed. "SHORT, SWEET, AND TO THE POINT."

"Amen," Napstablook added. "Now, go kick my cousin's butt."

River, Calibri, and Burgerpants walked ahead to the stage to get their equipment set up.

Undyne set her hand on Frisk's shoulder and said, "We're going to guard the stage. Kick that robot's ass."

"But not too hard," Papyrus added.

"If possible," Napstablook chimed in.

"Please," Alphys said begging Frisk with her eyes as she had done many times before.

Frisk smiled understandingly and promised, "I'll do my best."

Then without another word, Frisk walked to his spot on-stage and waited for the curtains to rise.


	102. Chapter 102

The curtains opened to reveal a packed room surrounding the stage. It looked exactly the same as it did every other time that Frisk had to fight Mettaton EX. It was always a sight that wearied him before but not this time…

As the stage lights shined on the band, the audience gasped in horror at Frisk's appearance, mostly at his scars.

From far away, Mettaton was watching his phone and doing the same. Toriel's mouth dropped open in shock while Sans just kept watching with a proud fatherly smirk.

The Voice in Frisk's head and Napstablook simultaneously said, "Do it."

That voice, Napstablook's encouragement, and the audience's shocked expressions empowered Frisk as he picked up the microphone, flashed a devilish smile, and said, "We're going to perform Aenema by Tool, and in case you're curious, the answer is yes. I carved every single one of these scars myself."

Toriel practically fainted where she sat while Sans chuckled to himself. Meanwhile, Mettaton created a portal heading backstage.

Frisk smiled at the rest of his band and nodded as he began chanting the disturbing whisper that began the song, "Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!"

The stage erupted in song as Calibri played the opening electric guitar riff.

Burgerpants then joined him behind him on the drums.

Right after him, River joined on his electric guitar to perform the second melody.

Then finally, Frisk came in with his vocals singing the opening lyrics, "Some say the end is near…Some say we'll see Armageddon soon…I certainly hope we will…I sure could use a vacation from this bull…shit…three…ring…ciiiiircuuus…sideshow of…"

The spotlights started flashing along with the drum's beat.

Calibri's intense and intimidating electric guitar melody then gave his guidance as Frisk practically screamed, "FREAKS here in this…hopeless fucking…hole we call…the Underground…the only way to…fix it is to flush it all away…any fucking time…any fucking day…learn to swim…see you down in…Ebbot City Bay!"

Calibri played a quieter riff that built up to the louder accompanying melody that built up to the next verse alongside his father playing his quieter complex harmony while Napstablook did his sound work at the booth.

Mettaton heard it all from backstage, but before he could intervene, Papyrus and Undyne jumped him and started fighting him backstage.

After about four seconds of this interlude, Frisk took a deep breath and sang removing his microphone from the stand and gesturing to the random people in the audience, "Fret for your figure and fret for your latte and fret for your lawsuit and fret for your hairpiece and fret for your Prozac and fret for your pilot and fret for your car. It's a bull…shit…three…ring…ciiiircuuuus…sideshow of…FREAKS here in this…hopeless fucking…hole we call…the Underground…the only way to..fix it is to flush it all away…any fucking time…any fucking day…learn to swim…see you down in…Ebbot City Bay!"

During the instrumental interlude of Calibri and River's guitars and Burgerpants's drums, Mettaton was still fighting Undyne and Papyrus backstage unbeknownst to anyone on stage or in the audience.

"What are you doing?!" Mettaton pleaded desperately while dodging Undyne's spears and Papyrus's bones. "He's going to ruin everything!"

"Exactly!" Undyne yelled firing a spear directly a Mettaton's head that he just managed to dodge.

"Frisk will be hurt by this, too!" Mettaton protested as he used his superpowered legs to jump over his adversaries and do a full split in the air. "They'll all think he's a freak with all those scars! He'll be under the spotlight forever!"

"That's your fault," Papyrus retorted as he jumped into the air, grabbed Mettaton's leg, and pulled him down to the ground. "Frisk never wanted to be on TV or anything like that. You tricked him, and now, he has to do this to get away! This only happened because you wouldn't let Frisk go and leave us alone!"

Just then Frisk continued singing while Burgerpants rested his drums and the skeletons played their quieter chords in the background.

"Some say a comet will come from the sky," Frisk sang. "Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves…followed by fault lines that cannot sit still…"

Then with a gesture towards the audience, "Followed by millions of dumbfounded dipshits…" Frisk sang before continuing with Burgerpants's loud drum solo to back him up. "And some say the end is near…Some say we'll see Armageddon soon…I certainly hope we will…I sure could use a vacation from this…stupid shit…silly shit…stupid shit…"

In the few beats of vocal rest while the instruments played, Mettaton managed to dash on the stage. From stage left, Inferno played the previously agreed upon signal on the light board so that the performers on stage could know what was going on.

They all looked behind them to see Mettaton but kept the show going without missing a beat.

When Frisk noticed him, he simply smirked, gestured towards Mettaton with the spotlight on him, and sang, "One great big festering neon distraction, I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied…Learn to swim…Learn to swim…Learn to swim…"

Frisk then looked back at the audience like nothing had happened, took a large gulp of air, and sang, "Mom's gonna fix it all soon…Mom's comin' round to put it back the way it oughtta beeeeeeeeee…"

Frisk held the note for a little longer while Calibri shredded through his intense guitar solo with the help of his dad and Burgerpants playing in the background.

That solo died down only to rise up again together as two monsters sang in unison, "Learn to swim! Learn to swim! Learn to swim! Learn to swim! Learn to swim! Learn to swim!" and Calibri did some unscripted metal growls in the background with the help of his modified voice device.

The trio quieted down to chanting in the background while Frisk sang, "Fuck EX Mettaton. And fuck all his clones. Fuck all these gun-toting, hip gangster wannabes."

Calibri played another solo that kept building in intensity until the next lines and while River and Burgerpants continued chanting, "Learn to swim! Learn to swim! Learn to swim! Learn to swim! Learn to swim!"

"Fuck retro anything," Frisk sang. "Fuck your tattoos. Fuck all you junkies. And fuck your short memories!"

"Learn to swim! Learn to swim! Learn to swim! Learn to swim! Learn to swim!"

Calibri played his prominent guitar solo and then Frisk sang again.

"Fuck smiley gladhands with hidden agendas. Fuck these dysfunctional, insecure actresses."

"Learn to swim! Learn to swim! Learn to swim!"

The guitars and the drums built up in intensity threatening to bust out of control but quieted down to almost a whisper and built up again when Frisk sang, "'Cause I'm praying for raaaain, I'm prayin' for tidal waves. I wanna see the ground give way. I wanna watch it all go down. Mom, please flush it all away. I wanna see it go right in and down. I wanna watch it go right in. Watch you flush it all awaaaaaaaaay!"

Frisk stopped holding his note as the guitars and drums grew louder and louder.

"Time to bring it down again!" Frisk sang as the instrumentals grew more intense.

After letting the instrumentals go on for a few measures, Frisk continued, "Don't just call me pessimist! Try and read between the lines!"

Another measure of no vocals went by while the guitars and drums grew loud and fast enough to match the speed of Frisk's heartbeat.

At that moment, Frisk smiled as he felt his determination fill another step to 19 HP.

"I can't imagine why you wouldn't welcome any change, my friend!" Frisk sang. "I wanna see it all come down! BRING IT DOWN! SUCK IT DOWN! FLUSH IT DOWN!"

Calibri, River, and Burgerpants started playing the intense melodic outro while Frisk whispered, "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Heeeey! Hey! Heeeey! Hey! Heeeey! Heeeeeeeeeeeeey!"

The music ended. The lights went out. The audience stood there in abject silence.

Frisk and his friends all smiled.


	103. Chapter 103

Before the audience had the time to react, Frisk and everyone else filed backstage where they found Papyrus, Undyne, and Mettaton all at a standstill.

Papyrus and Undyne were holding up Mettaton by his arms while the latter was struggling to escape.

Napstablook flew behind Frisk and put a ghostly hand on his shoulder.

"You did great," Napstablook whispered. "I'm proud of you."

"Me, too," Alphys said rubbing her hand on his other shoulder. "Don't forget the plan."

"I won't," Frisk whispered before walking forward to approach Mettaton. "Hey, Mettaton. How did you like our performance?"

Papyrus and Undyne let Mettaton fall on the floor while Frisk turned on the recording app on his phone.

Mettaton quickly got to his feet, brushed himself off, and strutted over to Frisk.

"You ungrateful, horrible, tacky, nightmare of a human child!" Mettaton yelled as he got in Frisk's face. "You have been nothing but a pain since I brought you here! I offered you everything you could ask for! Money, fame, stardom! And what do you do? You disrespect me every chance you get!"

SMACK!

That slap was enough to send Frisk flying back into the wall before anyone could react causing his HP to drop by three points back down to 16 HP.

"Frisk!" Napstablook yelled flying over to the wounded human child. "Hapsta, stop this!"

"Stay out of my way, Blooky!" Mettaton snapped back.

"Oh, you son of a…" Undyne yelled before getting interrupted by a long-awaited voice.

"Hold it!" Sans yelled suddenly appearing besides them.

"Sans?!" Papyrus yelled in surprise.

"Sans?!" Frisk yelled as Napstablook helped him get to his feet.

"Mettaton!" Sans began pulling papers out of his coat barely trying to conceal his anger. "You see these? These are adoption papers. That means I'm one of Frisk's legal guardians! And as his legal guardian, I've come to take him home! Now, you're going to let me take him home before I take care of you myself! You understand?!"

Mettaton humphed and said, "Fine with me. The little urchin is more trouble than he's worth. You can have him!"

"Good," Sans said as his anger relaxed into a smirk. "Alphys, did you get all that?"

"Yes," Alphys called out peaking around the curtain to see the monitors broadcasting everything that had just happened.

"What?" Mettaton asked the moment before he realized he could hear his voice echoing. "What are you talking ab-…? No…"

Mettaton ran past everyone backstage to the stage to see a stunned and grumbling audience.

"I can explain…" Mettaton said before the audience began booing him.

Everyone backstage smirked in satisfaction as the boo's grew louder.

Sans walked over to Frisk and asked, "Do you want me to finish him off for you, kid?"

"No," Frisk said firmly. "I decided I want to be a pacifist. I'm gonna stick to it."

Sans smiled and said, "You are a better person than I am, Frisk. Let's go home."

"Can everyone else come?" Frisk asked. "We could celebrate."

"Sure," Sans said before turning to everyone else. "Okay, everyone, follow me. We're going to Grillby's. I know a short cut."

Everyone smiled and followed Sans out.

The only one who lingered was Napstablook who looked in his cousin's direction for a while.

Thankfully, Frisk noticed.

"Napstablook, are you coming?" Frisk called as everyone was walking away.

"Yes," Napstablook replied. "Thank you."

Napstablook sped up to the happy group, and they all walked away.


End file.
